Sixty-three 'Mission Cities' under JNNURM

New Delhi, Aug 23 (UNI) The government today said a total of 63 cities had been included in the category of 'mission cities' under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) for their holistic development, and there was no plan to include more cities in such a category in the near future.

''We have received a lot of demands from various state governments for including more cities in the 'mission cities' category, but there is no immediate plan for accepting these demands,'' Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister Kumari Selja told the Rajya Sabha during the Question Hour.

She, however, suggested that there was scope for various cities to be included in the Integrated Housing and Slum Development Programme (IHSDP).

Ms Selja said all the state capitals have been included in the category of mission cities, and the projects under JNUURM are demand-driven.

Replying to a specific query, she said the Centre had sanctioned 22 projects with a total cost of Rs 426.23 crore in Rajasthan under Basic Services to the Urban Poor (BSUP) and IHSDP under the JNNURM.

This includes cost of new construction and upgrading of 28,232 houses for the urban poor as also cost of related infrastructure, she informed.

However, no proposal had been received from the Orissa government under JNNURM, the minister said.

Ms Selja said two cities of Orissa -- Bhubaneswar and Puri -- had been included in the category of mission cities, and there was no plan in the near future to include any other city from the state in that list.

The minister said the Centre provides 50 per cent of a project under the BSUP and 80 per cent under the IHSDP. ''Funds are not a constraint, but the state governments must come out with detailed projects for getting benefits under JNNURM.'' Mr B J Panda (BJD) said there were anomalies in the categorisation of mega cities and less than mega cities, and demanded that Cuttack should be included as a mission city.

Mr C Ramchandraiah (TDP) demanded inclusion of Warangal and Tirupati in the category of mission cities.

UNI