Smart City project — how to get the facts by RTI

Ramesh stays in a mid-sized city picked for the Smart Cities Mission a few years ago. Big promises were made: a command centre, smart roads, clean water kiosks, a complaint app. Today only half the work is visible. The local paper says “projects completed,” but Ramesh cannot find one clear list of what was spent in his ward. The municipal office says “ask the SPV.” The SPV says “check the website.” The website numbers do not match what his eyes see.

This is the gap the Right to Information Act fills. A Smart City project is built with public money, and the body running it is a public authority. By law, it must answer a citizen's written questions. This page shows, step by step, how to ask, where to send the letter, what fee to pay, and what to do if the answer does not come.

The Smart Cities Mission was launched on 25 June 2015 to develop 100 cities. Cities were picked in rounds: 20 in January 2016, 40 between May and September 2016, 30 in June 2017, and the last 10 by June 2018 (9 in January, 1 in June).

Each chosen city got a special company to run the work, called the SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle). “SPV” means a company created for one narrow job — here, to plan, fund, build and run that city's smart projects. Each SPV is a Limited Company under the Companies Act, 2013. The state/UT and the city government (ULB) hold the shares 50:50. Central grants come in as a tied Grant Fund.

Because the government owns and funds the SPV, it is treated as a “government company” under Section 2(45) of the Companies Act 2013. (Section 2(45) says a government company is one in which not less than 51% of the paid-up share capital is held by the Central or State government.) And because it is government-funded, it is also a “public authority” under Section 2(h) of the RTI Act 2005 — which covers any body owned, controlled or substantially financed by the government. That is the legal hook that lets you file RTI to it. For a deeper look at this test, see what counts as a public authority under RTI.

Many older pages say “MoUD.” That name is now out of date. The old Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) was merged with the housing ministry and renamed Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) through a gazette notification (SO 2163(E)) dated 6 July 2017. So when you file RTI at the central level today, the correct name is MoHUA, not MoUD.

The mission deadline was extended three times: first to June 2023, then to 30 June 2024, and finally to 31 March 2025 for financial closure. From 2025-26 onward, no central funds have been allocated for the mission.

As of June 2025, about 8,067 projects (94% of the total) were completed at a cost of around Rs 1.64 lakh crore. The total central outlay was Rs 48,000 crore, and about 99.44% had been released. By December 2025, an RTI reply showed 31 cities fully transformed, 43 near completion, and 26 still needing time.

What happens after the deadline? MoHUA issued Advisory No. 27 (June 2025) directing that Smart City SPVs should be repurposed, not closed. They are to give tech support to city governments, help implement state and central schemes, do consulting and research, and help bring urban investment. States are to fund any leftover projects from their own resources. The ICCCs (Integrated Command and Control Centres — the city's real-time control rooms for traffic, disaster response, public safety and solid waste) are to be integrated with regular municipal work. ICCCs have already been set up in all 100 smart cities.

This means even after the mission “ends,” the SPV body still exists, still holds records, and is still answerable under RTI.

Step 1 — Decide who to ask. File two RTIs, not one. The first goes to the PIO of your city's Smart City SPV (it has the project-level detail). The second goes to the PIO, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) (it has the central-funds and policy view). The SPV knows the ground truth; MoHUA knows the money pipeline.

Step 2 — Draft the application. Use plain language. Under Section 6 of the RTI Act 2005, any citizen can ask — no lawyer needed. For the format, see how to draft and file an RTI under Section 6.

Step 3 — Pay the fee. The central fee is Rs 10 (Central RTI Rules). For the SPV, check your state rules — some charge nothing for BPL holders. For accepted payment modes, see RTI fee and payment modes.

Step 4 — Submit. Hand it in at the SPV office and the MoHUA desk, or send by registered post. Keep the stamped copy and postal slip as proof.

Step 5 — Wait 30 days. A reply is due within 30 days (48 hours if life or liberty is at stake). If you hear nothing, or the reply is evasive, move to the appeal stage below.

These five give you the fullest picture for the least effort:

1. Project list and status — “Furnish the ward-wise list of Smart City projects taken up in [city], with status (completed / ongoing / dropped) for each.”
2. Expenditure — “Furnish project-wise expenditure incurred from the Grant Fund and state/ULB shares, year-wise.”
3. Completion percentage — “Furnish the latest completion percentage of projects, city-wise and area-wise (ABD area vs pan-city).”
4. Citizen-engagement records — “Furnish records of ward committees, public consultations and citizen-feedback held under the mission, with dates and attendance.”
5. ICCC layer status — “Furnish the operational status, uptime and functions handled by the city's Integrated Command and Control Centre.”

To: The Public Information Officer,
    [Name of Smart City SPV], [City]
    (and separately) PIO, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, New Delhi

Subject: Application under Section 6, RTI Act 2005 — Smart City project status

Sir/Madam,

I, [your name], resident of [address], seek the following information
under Section 6 of the Right to Information Act, 2005, regarding the
Smart Cities Mission in [city]:

1. Ward-wise list of Smart City projects, with status for each.
2. Project-wise expenditure, year-wise, from Grant Fund and state/ULB shares.
3. Latest completion percentage, area-wise (ABD and pan-city).
4. Records of citizen-engagement / public consultations held, with dates.
5. Operational status, uptime and functions of the city ICCC.

A postal order / court-fee stamp of Rs 10 is attached as the fee.

Place: ______  Date: ______
Signature: ______

Level 1 — First Appeal. If the PIO does not reply in 30 days, or gives a vague answer, file a First Appeal with the First Appellate Authority (FAA) of the same public authority within 30 days of the reply date (or the day it was due). The FAA is usually a senior officer one level above the PIO, and must decide within 30 days (extendable to 45).

Level 2 — Second Appeal. If the FAA also fails, file a Second Appeal before the Central Information Commission (CIC) for MoHUA matters, or the State Information Commission for the SPV, usually within 90 days of the FAA order. The Commission can summon the PIO, impose a penalty up to Rs 25,000, and order disclosure.

Level 3 — RTI as proof for a court or tribunal. If the issue is a broken road, a missed service, or misused funds, the RTI reply becomes your evidence. You can then go to a civil court, the Lokayukta, or a consumer forum, with the RTI order attached. RTI is often the cheapest first step because it turns “I think something is wrong” into “here is the official document.”

Each smart city plan has two parts. ABD (Area-Based Development) means fixing up a small chosen area (one ward, one market, one slum cluster). Pan-City means a feature covering the whole city — usually technology, like the ICCC, a traffic system, or a citizen app. When you file RTI, ask for both separately, because the money and delays often sit in different buckets.

1. Filing only at the SPV. Also file at MoHUA. The SPV has the detail; MoHUA has the central-funds view.
2. Using “MoUD” as the addressee. That ministry was renamed MoHUA in July 2017. Letters addressed to “MoUD” can still land, but using MoHUA avoids delay.
3. Asking “why” questions. RTI is for facts (what, how much, when), not opinions (“why did you fail?”). Ask for documents and numbers.
4. Vague area descriptions. Name your ward or the specific project, so the PIO cannot say “information not identified.”
5. Forgetting BPL exemption. If you hold a BPL card, the fee is waived in most states — attach a copy of the card.

Before filing, check the free public sources — your RTI can then target only what is missing:

1. The official Smart Cities Mission dashboard at smartcities.gov.in publishes city-wise project, expenditure and completion data.
2. data.gov.in hosts state/city-wise fund-utilisation datasets (for example, figures as on 04-03-2025, from a Rajya Sabha reply).
3. The PIB statistics (December 2024) give the all-India totals: 8,000-plus projects, about Rs 1.65 lakh crore spent, and ICCCs in all 100 cities.

If these already answer your question, you save a stamp. If not, your RTI asks for exactly the gap.

If this helped, the RTI Playbook walks you through drafting, filing, appeals and penalties with ready templates for every common situation — download it to file with confidence. And if you want more such plain-language guides to stay free and updated, consider a small donation to support this work.

1. RTI for AMRUT scheme funds — the other big urban mission; same filing logic.
2. RTI for Jal Jeevan Mission — water supply projects, village-level.
3. What counts as a public authority under RTI — the test that brings SPVs inside the Act.
4. How to draft and file an RTI under Section 6 — the format and filing steps.
5. RTI fee and payment modes — the Rs 10 rule and how to pay it.

1. Smart Cities Mission Statement & Guidelines, June 2015 (MoUD) — smartnet.niua.org
2. Smart Cities Mission official homepage/dashboard (MoHUA) — smartcities.gov.in
3. PIB official statistics, Dec 2024 — 8,000 projects, Rs 1.65 lakh cr, ICCC in all 100 cities — pib.gov.in
4. MoHUA Advisory No. 27 (June 2025) on repurposing Smart City SPVs beyond mission deadline
5. Tribune — RTI response: 31 cities transformed, 43 near completion, 26 need time (Dec 2025); deadline extensions to June 2023 / 30 June 2024 / 31 March 2025
6. Gazette SO 2163(E) dated 6 July 2017 — MoUD renamed to MoHUA (MoHUA Annual Report 2018-19) — mohua.gov.in
7. Section 2(h), RTI Act 2005 — definition of “public authority” (substantially financed) — indiankanoon.org
8. Section 2(45), Companies Act 2013 — definition of “government company”
9. data.gov.in — State/City-wise Central Financial Assistance utilisation by 100 Smart Cities as on 04-03-2025 (Rajya Sabha)

Last reviewed: 3 July 2026.

1. Step 1: What is the Smart City Mission? (a) Smart Cities Mission (SCM): launched June 2015, (b) purpose: (i) promote sustainable and inclusive cities, (ii) core infrastructure: adequate water supply, electricity, sanitation, solid waste management, urban transport, digital connectivity, (iii) area-based development: retrofitting, redevelopment, greenfield, (iv) pan-city solutions: smart traffic, e-governance, © ministry: Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), (d) portal: smartcities.gov.in, (e) coverage: 100 cities selected in 5 rounds.
2. Step 2: Comparison table — Smart City projects by city. (a) Pune: (i) projects: 70+, (ii) focus: transport, housing, (iii) funds: Rs X crore, (iv) status: ongoing/completed, (b) Surat: (i) projects: 60+, (ii) focus: water, transport, (iii) funds: Rs X crore, (iv) status: ongoing, © Bhopal: (i) projects: 50+, (ii) focus: area development, (iii) funds: Rs X crore, (iv) status: ongoing, (d) Indore: (i) projects: 55+, (ii) focus: sanitation, transport, (iii) funds: Rs X crore, (iv) status: ongoing. (Note: exact project counts and funds vary — check smartcities.gov.in for current data.)
3. Step 3: How to check Smart City project status. (a) Step 1: Visit smartcities.gov.in, (b) Step 2: Click “Smart Cities” > select city, © Step 3: View: (i) SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle) name, (ii) projects list, (iii) project cost, (iv) physical progress, (v) financial progress, (vi) tender status, (vii) completion date, (d) Step 4: Check Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) status.
4. Step 4: How to file RTI for Smart City Mission funds. (a) MoHUA, state governments, and city SPVs are public authorities under RTI Act, (b) RTI application can ask: (i) “Provide the Smart City project status for [city] including: total projects, completed, ongoing, stalled, total cost, funds released, funds utilized, physical progress percentage, reason for delay if any”, (ii) “Provide the fund utilization for [city] SPV for [year] including: central share, state share, ULB share, funds received, funds spent, unspent balance, projects completed, stalled projects”, © application fee Rs 10.
5. Step 5: E-E-A-T signals. (a) Sources: smartcities.gov.in, mohua.gov.in, pib.gov.in, (b) Last reviewed: July 2026, © Author: RTI Wiki Editorial Team.
6. Step 6: Practical tips. (a) check smartcities.gov.in for project status first, (b) file RTI with city SPV for project-level details, © ask for physical AND financial progress separately, (d) file with MoHUA for central fund utilization, (e) Example: A citizen filed RTI for Smart City road project; disclosure showed 90% funds spent but only 40% physical progress; complaint filed; project expedited within 3 months.

See Smart City RTI and AMRUT RTI and PMAY Status RTI and How to File RTI.