NEW DELHI: For smart cities, the government will appoint CEOs, who will drive the concept and execution rather than leave these tasks to municipal bodies alone. 

The guidelines released by government for rolling out the scheme to develop 100 smart cities says that each smart city will have a special purpose vehicle (SPV) like that for Metro rail projects where managing directors are sole in-charge. These will be will be headed by a full time CEO for a fixed term of three years. The SPV will also have nominees of Centre and state governments besides representatives from urban local bodies. 

Sources said this is a part of the major institutional reform that has been introduced to expedite execution. "Government officers, senior corporate executives and even independent experts can be hired for this job," said a ministry official. However, the SPV will also have a board of directors, which will be headed by a divisional commissioner, collector, municipal commissioner or head of development authority.