Smart City Awards 2020 was announced under the ‘Smart Cities Mission’ on June 25.

Which state is the winner?

=> Uttar Pradesh was ranked as top performing state under India Smart Cities Award Contest 2020.

=> Madhya Pradesh came second while Tamil Nadu at third position.

=> Surat and Indore won best award for their overall performance in 2020.

=> Best union territory award was conferred to Chandigarh.

Background:

These awards were announced to mark six years of three urban transformative missions by Central government namely, Smart Cities Mission, Atal Mission for Urban Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban.

Theme for awards:

These awards were given under the themes of Social Aspects, Governance, Urban Environment, Sanitation, Culture, Economy, Water, Built Environment and Urban Mobility. Some other interesting themes were added this year namely, Sustainable Business model of ICCC and Innovation award specially in COVID Management.

Category Wise winner:

Under this theme, Tirupati won award for Health Benchmark for Municipal Schools while Bhubaneswar won for Socially Smart Bhubaneswar. Tumakuru won award for Digital Library Solution. In governance category, Vadodara received the first rank. In urban environment category, joint winners are Bhopal and Chennai. Smart Cities Leadership Award was conferred on Ahmedabad, Varanasi and Ranchi.