Amidst the pandemic gloom, Rajasthan ensured a sight of hope after the state stood second among the 36 states and Union territories in the country in the implementation of the Smart City projects.

As per the latest ratings released by the Union government, four Rajasthan cities feature in the smart city mission list. In the online ranking, four state cities including Udaipur, Kota, Ajmer, and Jaipur have secured the 8th, 11th, 29th, and 36th rank among the 100 smart cities of the country.

These rankings issued by the Union government for smart cities based on aspects as the smart city plan implementation, the ongoing work and tendering process besides the utilization of funds and provision of the utility certificates to the Centre from time to time.

Shanti Dhariwal,  Rajasthan Urban Development and housing minister, the four cities of Rajasthan -- Jaipur, Udaipur, Ajmer, and Kota -- have secured the Smart City Mission rankings have incurred an expenditure of Rs 1,563 crore against a total amount of Rs 1,845 crore received for various projects.

Out of the project amount of Rs 3,965 crore in four cities, 138 works worth Rs 448 crore have been completed and 178 works worth Rs 2,772 crore are in progress while 17 works worth Rs 145 crore are under process.