9 Years On, Bhopal’s Smart City Dream Stuck In Limbo 

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Envisioned as a model for urban transformation, the state capital’s Smart City project remains incomplete even after nine years. Despite being selected in the first phase of the national Smart City Mission in 2016, the ambitious plan continues to struggle due to persistent encroachments, sluggish implementation, and stalled progress of land clearance followed by its acquisition, said an official of Smart City.

Adding to these challenges, the central government officially ended the Smart City Mission in March 2025, halting further funding.

Launched with the promise of 24x7 water supply, underground utility corridors, cycle tracks, smart street lighting, green buildings, solar rooftops, and a central park spread over 11 acres, the Smart City project aimed to transform 342 acres in North and South TT Nagar into a modern urban space. However, only fragments of this vision have materialised.

The core of the project, covering 138.40 hectares as part of the Area Based Development (ABD), required the demolition of 3,146 government quarters owned by the property department. To date, only 2,000 of them have been cleared. The remaining areas remain occupied, mostly by families of former government employees who continue to live there, turning them into encroachments.

The project, backed by a sanctioned budget of Rs. 1,778 crore, now hangs in uncertainty, caught between ambitious planning and on-ground realities. 

‘Efforts ongoing’

Smart City CEO Anju Arun Kumar told Free Press that efforts are ongoing to clear the remainingencroachments. “We are working on relocation plans for the remaining residents and trying our best to remove all illegal structures,” she said.

Few components ready

Only a few components of the project,Haat Bazaar, Smart Road, Boulevard Road, and theDussehra Ground, have been completed. Three additional smart roads are still pending. Commercial plots developed in the ABD area have seen little success, with only 20% sold. Encroachments and incomplete payments from booked plots have further hampered progress.