One of the biggest promises of the central government, to build 100 'Smart Cities' took its first step today. The government announced the first list of 20 'Smart Cities' today.

Following is the list of 20 smart cities
1. Bhubaneswar
2. Pune
3. Jaipur
4. Surat
5. Kochi
6. Ahmedabad
7. Jabalpur
8. Vishakapatnam
9. Sholapur
10. Davangere
11. Indore
12. NDMC
13. Coimbatore
14. Kakinada
15. Belagavi
16. Udaipur
17. Guwahati
18. Chennai
19. Ludhiana
20. Bhopal

Here are the highlights of the new scheme

These 20 cities are from the list of 97 that had been chosen for the project in August. To earn a 'Smart' tag, the city has to meet specific requirements including service levels, infrastructure and track record. Those cities which didn't make it to the first list are still eligible to try for the second round, if they can improve the facilities.

Each state was assigned a specific number of Smart Cities for the selection process based on urban population and other factors. Uttar Pradesh will get the most number of Smart Cities, 13. Tamil Nadu will have 12 and Maharashtra will get 10 such cities. Madhya Pradesh will have seven Smart Cities and Gujarat and Karnataka will have six each.

The Modi government plans to have at least one smart city in every state. The cities will be developed to have basic infrastructure through assured water and power supply, sanitation and solid waste management. Efficient urban mobility and public transport, IT connectivity, e-governance and citizen participation will assured in these cities.

Rs 3 lakh crore will be spent in the In the next five years to develop the towns to provide world class infrastructure, sustainable environment and smart solutions.