Bhubaneswar, Aug. 27: The state capital and Rourkela have been included in the list of 98 smart cities released by the Centre today pending a nomination each from Uttar Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

Though Bhubaneswar was picked up for the Modi government's flagship project, major cities such as Mumbai, Bangalore and Patna don't figure in the list, which was released by Union urban development minister M. Venkaiah Naidu.

While Uttar Pradesh has maximum of 13 cities, followed by 12 in Tamil Nadu and 10 in Maharashtra to be developed as smart cities, Madhya Pradesh has seven cities in the project.

Both Bhubaneswar and Rourkela will receive Rs 500 crore in five years as part of the Rs 48,000-crore smart cities project that envisages development of a slew of facilities including e-governance, transport, waste, water and energy management apart from building skill development centres.

The Centre has envisaged the smart city project with a view to create replicable models that other aspiring cities can emulate.

The four major components of growth for smart cities would focus on institutional, physical, social and economic infrastructure development.

With the project to be implemented between 2015 and 2020, the selected cities would also generate their own resources to complement the central grant of Rs 500 crore.

The local generation of resources would be through imposition of various kinds of civic taxes.

The scheme would be implemented in a phased manner with only 20 cities to be included in the first phase to be followed by 40 each in two successive phases.

Hailing the Centre's announcement, Bhubaneswar mayor Ananta Narayan Jena said he was hopeful of the city being included in the first phase.

"We will try to put our best foot forward through quick online delivery of basic services and improvement in our public transport system to ensure that we are included in the first phase," said Jena.

Commissioner of the Rourkela Municipal Corporation Durga Prasad is happy that the project has come during his tenure.

Welcoming the selection, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, director Sunil Kumar Sadangi said: "The city has a potential to become the next education hub. This will get a boost from the Centre's decision."

However, people of Cuttack, Berhampur and Sambalpur, the cities that were also in contention for the smart city tag, felt disappointed at being left out.

"The decision was taken even after it was pointed that erroneous evaluation had pushed Cuttack out of the race," said Trilochan Kanungo, former chairman of the civic body.

While Smart City Action Committee chairman Ashok Kumar Mohapatra threatened to move court, High Court Bar Association secretary Bijay Kumar Ragada said: "Proper evaluation according to central guidelines would have put Cuttack on top of the list."

Co-ordinator of the Forum for Ganjam Sudhir Rout termed the decision as a case of wrong choice.

"While Bhubaneswar is the capital city and already developed, the state and the Centre have had very little role to play in the development of Rourkela. The Centre should have chosen Berhampur, Cuttack and Sambalpur," he said, adding that they would shortly meet Union finance minister Arun Jaitley to take up the issue.

People in Sambalpur also shared the sentiments of Cuttack and Berhampur.

"If the population of Odisha is taken into account, three cities should have found a place in the list," said academic Sankar Prashad Pati.

In New Delhi, speaking about the exclusion of cities such as Patna and Bangalore and Mumbai, Naidu said: "It is the states which has sent the names of the cities to be included in the project. Names of Patna and Bangalore were not proposed by their respective states. As far as Mumbai is concerned, Maharashtra has proposed Navi Mumbai for the purpose."

PROJECT IN A NUTSHELL

Additional reporting by Rajesh Mohanty in Rourkela, Lalmohan Patnaik in Cuttack, Sunil Patnaik in Berhampur and Subrat Mohanty in Sambalpur