The smart cities of Surat, Pune,  Ahmedabad, Bhubaneswar, Jabalpur, Udaipur have been the frontrunners. As on 20 June, Surat Smart City had almost completed projects worth Rs 352 crore and had further initiated projects worth Rs 2,139 crore. Ahmedabad had completed projects worth Rs 296 crore, and allocated new work on projects worth Rs 425 crore. Pune had completed projects worth Rs 269 crore, with work under progress for projects worth Rs 242 crore, while Jabalpur had completed projects worth Rs 252 crore. New Delhi Municipal Council, which is home to the most powerful politicians and bureaucrats in the country, had completed projects worth Rs 43 crore, with work in progress on projects worth Rs 550 crore. Bhubaneswar, which bagged the top slot in the competition, had completed projects worth Rs 19.75 crore, and had allocated projects worth Rs 1,100 crore to various agencies. In Udaipur, work worth Rs 122 crore was completed. These cities are leading by examples for taking projects in a systematic manner and their speed of execution.

Among the group of cities that have shown uneven progress is Bhopal. It had spent a maximum of Rs 720 crore so far, with Rs 690 crore spent on the smart pole project alone. While the city has exceeded its budget by Rs 200 crore, it is yet to start any area-based development projects.

Kakinada has so far completed project worth Rs 24.47 crore and has allocated project worth Rs 352 crore.  Indore has completed projects worth Rs 25.72 crore, out of which Rs 20 crore has been spent on improving roads, which comes under the regular municipal work. Vizag has completed projects worth Rs 16 crore.

Jaipur has completed only projects worth Rs 6.40 crore, while Solapur and Davangere have complete projects worth less than Rs 3 crore. No project has been initiated by Kochi, Belagavi, Coimbatore, Chennai, Guwahati and Ludhiana.

According to experts, one of the reasons for slow progress is that the states have not let go of their control over municipal bodies. Even though special purpose vehicles (SPV) were created to take charge of smart cities and lead their development, the municipal bodies are largely dominated by the bureaucrats.