The Himachal Pradesh government on Tuesday sought an extension for Smart City Mission till 30 September 2022 so that the state could award various development works as FCA clearances are causing the delay. State Urban Development Minister Suresh Bhardwaj raised the demand during a meeting with Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri in New Delhi today. Bhardwaj requested the Union Minister to provide an extension to Smart City Mission up to 30th September 2022 to enable the state to award all works. window.googletag = window.googletag || {cmd: []}; googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.defineSlot(`/96277396/single-article-ad-new`, [300, 250], `div-gpt-ad-1616332879619-0`).addService(googletag.pubads()); googletag.pubads().enableSingleRequest(); googletag.enableServices(); }); googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(`div-gpt-ad-1616332879619-0`); }); He stated that the state government will complete awarding all the works by March 2022 and added that some projects needed clearances under FCA which caused the delay. He further requested to consider funding Himachal Pradesh on the 90:10 pattern under Smart City Project as it faces several challenges being a hill state. He said that the state is not in a position to contribute a thousand crores for both cities Shimla and Dharamshala under Smart City Mission. Himachal is getting funds on 90:10 pattern under various GoI Schemes like AMRUT, Swachh Bharat Mission, NULM, PMAY-HFA (U), he added. He also urged for enhancement of allocation under AMRUT 2.0 and thanked the Union government for covering all the 68 ULBs and Cantonment Boards along with Shimla and Kullu towns. The Union Minister listened to the demands and assured us of all possible assistance.

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