New Delhi, March 17:

Five cities - Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Hyderabad, Nagpur and Bhopal - will soon undergo a facelift with world-class infrastructure and civic amenities as part of the government’s flagship urban renewal programme.

“These will be the first set of cities taken up under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission for 2006-07,” a senior urban development ministry official said. The cities have been selected on the basis of early proposals submitted by the respective state governments - Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.

The urban renewal scheme, announced by prime minister Manmohan Singh in December 2005, has a provision for disbursing funds to upgrade the infrastructure of 63 selected cities in the country. A total of Rs 550 billion ($12.43 billion) has been earmarked for the project and will be disbursed over seven years.

Of the 63 cities, 35 are those with a million-plus population, including state capitals, and the remaining are places of historical, religious or tourist importance.

Under the scheme, the cities will be provided grants to improve infrastructure and other civic services. The ministry’s central sanctioning and monitoring committee will meet here March 21 to take a final decision on proposals forwarded by the state governments of the five earmarked cities, that is Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, said the official, declining to be named. “All the cities have submitted details of their development plans and of the projects they plan to undertake,” said the official. While the central government will provide up to 50 per cent of the total project cost, the remaining will be raised by the states and local city administrations. The committee will consider 15 to 20 projects from the five cities at the upcoming meeting.

The urban renewal scheme focuses on upgrading urban infrastructure, civic services, community participation and accountability of local governments as part of the decentralisation of urban governance.

The cities will have improved water supply, sanitation, sewerage, solid waste management, urban transport and road networks. The cities will also draw up schemes to provide a better lifestyle.