Govt to build smart cities at 12 major ports

Indian government is working on an ambitious plan to build one smart city each at the country´s 12 major ports, at an estimated total investment of Rs 50,000 crore, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has said. ´Each port will construct one smart city. We are trying to do this. Each city will be built with an expenditure of about Rs 3,000-4,000 crore,´ said the Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping. ´These will be green smart cities. We are starting work on these in four to six months. You will see all these complete in five years,´ Gadkari said. The 12 major ports under central government´s control have between them an estimated 2.64 lakh acres of land which is being mapped through satellites and are major resources with Shipping Ministry. Mumbai Port Trust alone has about 753 hectares of land with it, valued at about Rs 46,000 crore.