“Monster traffic jam in Gurgaon is a reminder that we need basic cities before we need Smart cities,” one tweeted. ... Gurgaon has not been included yet in the roll-out, although its exclusion has sent some government officials into uproar, with one declaring Gurgaon a “super smart city” anyway. At least one official was more receptive of the exclusion, admitting that Gurgaon has a “flawed model of development.”

“How can a city become smart without proper infrastructure?” said Ramesh Menon, director for Gurgaon’s Certes Realty.

“In order to unlock cities’ full potential, they need to remain focused on simultaneously developing basic services and infrastructure,” said Hany Fam, executive vice president for Enterprise Partnerships with Mastercard, which has partnered with mobile ticketing provider Cubic Transportation Systems, to launch a platform that delivers analytics to smart city planners.