Many of the top 20 cities that got selected last January under the government’s ambitious smart city project lag in basic infrastructure, governance and socio-economic indicators, a government study has found.

These cities competed with 98 other “potential” smart cities and got selected based on the score they got for carrying out urban reforms in areas including sanitation, good governance and financial sustainability of the proposals they submitted. The top 20 cities are: Vishakhapatnam, Kakinada, Guwahati, NDMC, Ahmedabad, Surat, Belgaum, Davanagere, Kochi, Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur, Pune, Solapur, Bhubaneswar, Ludhiana, Jaipur, Udaipur, Chennai and Coimbatore. According to the analysis by the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) —under the Union urban development ministry — the total slum population of 18.75 % in the 20 cities is higher than that of urban India (17.4%). Slum population was high in Jabalpur, Kakinada, Indore and Chennai.

Many cities have a small percentage share of households with basic civic amenities. Guwahati had the lowest number of households (32.6%) with access to tap water from a treated source while Solapur, Bhubaneshwar, Pune, Jabalpur and Bhopal reported a low share of latrine facilities. Drainage connectivity was low in Bhubaneshwar, Guwahati, Kakinada, Kochi and Belgaum.