Sujit Bijoy, TNN | May 28, 2015, 12.05PM IST

BHUBANESWAR: Union urban development minister Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday said smart city aspirants will be selected on the basis of a competition, 'City Challenge'.

"Cities will be profiled based on revenue, expenditure and availability of infrastructure (transport, drinking water, solid waste management). We are in the process of issuing the guidelines for identifying the cities," he said on the sidelines of a news conference here.

Venkaiah said it is difficult to say which city of Odisha will be included under the scheme. "At least one place will make it to the list," he said.

Since a large number of people in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh stay in urban areas, more cities of these states will be included under the scheme, he said.

The Centre is planning to develop 100 smart cities. Those selected under the ambitious scheme would get central assistance of Rs 100 crore per year each for five years, official sources said.

The prime objective of the scheme is to provide decent living options to every resident of these cities along with sustainable employment opportunities.

Odisha would propose the Centre to include Puri, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Berhampur, Rourkela and Sambalpur under the scheme, the sources added.