The New Delhi Municipal Council is focusing on various smart city projects in its 2016-17 Budget. On Wednesday, NDMC chairman Naresh Kumar presented the budget, highlighting a huge backlog of projects that are yet to take off.

Total receipts of Rs 3,458.33 crore have been projected against a total estimated expenditure of Rs 3,450.81 crore during the period.

Mr Kumar, who presented his maiden budget, said the allocation for capital expenditure has been increased by 115 per cent from Rs 191.93 crore in revised estimates of 2015-16 to Rs 412.47 in the estimates for 2016-17.

Installation of LED streetlights, automated parking facilities, construction of disabled-friendly public toilets, transformation of subways into vibrant spaces with ATMs, cloud-based hospital management information system for the civic body’s healthcare units, health camps for employees and skill training centre are among the projects that were announced in the previous budget and have been “repackaged” for this edition.

Other old projects which have found mention in the current budget include installation of outdoor gym equipment, rooftop solar panels on NDMC buildings, projects for increasing green cover, stainless steel bins in all major markets and roads, and setting up of air quality monitoring system to share real-time information on air quality through LED screens.

Describing the NDMC’s vision as a “global benchmark for a capital city,” the chairman enlisted the allocations of the budget with a considerable share to the smart city projects.

“After selection in Stage-1 of the Smart City Mission, we have submitted the proposal to the Union urban development ministry. If we get selected, the NDMC is expected to receive an amount of Rs 194 crore from the government in form of tied grants as first instalment, which will be matched by an equal contribution from NDMC,” Mr Kumar said. The ambitious project announced last year for replacement of existing electricity poles with smart street poles having wi-fi points, smart LEDs and CCTVs for city surveillance, took a back seat after the NDMC’s allocation of tender was challenged before the high court. With a provision of Rs 187.71 crore for education services, the NDMC has announced development of smart classrooms, provide e-learning solutions in its schools and making the curriculum digitally available to facilitate teaching.

The smart classroom project will also include virtual-labs, interactive white boards and digital library.

Extension of door-to-door municipal solid waste collection facility, setting up of bio-methanisation plant in Pillanji village, tricycles for safai sevaks and deployment of mechanised sweeping during night as well, are the initiatives announced for 2016-17 under the “Swachh NDMC” project.

The projects that will be taken up under the Centre’s AMRUT scheme, include redevelopment of existing tubewells, installation of water ATMs, commissioning of sewage treatment plant and desilting and rehabilitation of sewage lines on Shahjahan Road and Ashoka Road.

Setting up of state-of-art AYUSH polyclinic, incubation centre to help entrepreneurs create start-ups and signing of twin-city agreements with international cities to facilitate cooperation and exchange of ideas, are some of the new initiatives announced in the budget.

The NDMC chairman did not disclose whether the pending projects that have not made way to the new budget have been scrapped.