Inside CITIIS 2.0: How India Is Building Smarter, Greener, Future-Ready Cities?

The government of India launched a program called CITIIS 2.0. The CITIIS 2.0 full form is City Investments to Innovate, Integrate, & Sustain 2.0. The programme has been launched to drive rapid urbanisation in cities across the vast country of India. The program has been launched in partnership with the French Development Agency (AFD), German Development Bank (KfW), European Union (EU), and the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA).

Read the article to learn more about the CITIIS 2.0 Mission, ranging from its objectives and components to information on the CITIIS 2.0 cities list as mentioned in the CITIIS 2.0 guidelines, and also answers to popular questions like ‘CITIIS 2.0 under which ministry?’.

What Is City Investments to Innovate, Integrate, & Sustain 2.0?

The CITIIS 2.0 is a government initiative launched under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in 2015; the CITIIS 2.0 full form is City Investments to Innovate, Integrate, & Sustain 2.0. The aim behind launching the CITIIS 2.0 mission is to attract investments and drive rapid urbanisation in Indian cities. This program is part of the Smart Cities Mission, which is dedicated to sustainable and climate-friendly alternatives to development. CITIIS 2.0 will have four themes of Smart Cities Mission:

• Sustainable mobility

• Public open spaces

• Urban e-governance and ICT

• Social and organisational innovation for low-income establishments

Components Of The CITIIS 2.0 Mission

The components of the CITIIS 2.0 Mission are laid out below in detail for one’s better understanding:

1. Component 1: 18 cities are provided with financial and technical aid with a special focus on waste management. The 18 CITIIS 2.0 cities list is Agartala, Agra, Bareilly, Belagavi, Bilaspur, Guwahati, Jabalpur, Jaipur, Madurai, Muzaffarpur, New Town Kolkata, Panaji, Rajkot, Srinagar, Thiruvananthapuram, Thanjavur, Udaipur, and Ujjain.

2. Component 2: Here, special focus is on sustainable and climate reformative tech-friendly options at the state level. The state authorities, in collaboration with the Municipal Corporation, create action plans on urban flooding, heat management, or water security, and ways of detecting climate indicators like land, air, and water. The 21 CITIIS 2.0 cities list is Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Telangana, Tripura, and Uttarakhand.

3. Component 3: In component 3, the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) is responsible for carrying out intervention plans at all centre, state, and city levels.

What Initiatives are Taken by the Government of India for Urban Development?

The Indian government has introduced several initiatives for urbanisation. The following are some of the popular government initiatives.

1. Atal Mission For Urban Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT)

AMRUT was launched in 2015 by the government of India. The main objective of the govt mission is to work on improving the infrastructure in cities so that the quality of life of the people can reach new heights.

2. Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana- Urban (PMAY-U)

The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana- Urban (PMAY-U) is a flagship initiative that began on 25 June 2015 and is managed by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) to address the country's housing needs, aiming to provide affordable housing to the urban poor.

3. Integrated Command and Control Centres

The Integrated Command and Control Centres were established for various things like grievance redressal and surveillance, but then were transformed and used during the COVID-19 pandemic in around 45 cities.

4. Climate Smart Cities Assessment Framework 2.0

The Climate Smart Cities Assessment Framework 2.0 was launched under MoHUA in 2020. This initiative aims to help Indian cities adopt climate-friendly ways of development, hence aligning with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

5. TULIP

The Urban Learning Internship Programme (TULIP) was introduced in 2021 by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to boost the employability of young graduates in our country through structured training and mentorship.