Sep 16, 2014: Union urban development minister says that Vijayawada, Guntur and Tenali will be provided Metro rail services with the state government announcing it’s new capital for Andhra Pradesh located around Vijayawada. As a part a plan to develop 100 smart cities in the country for making urban life comfortable by improving living conditions there, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam in AP would get a chance to be developed as smart cities. This was said in a recent seminar on “Smart Cities” conducted by the Andhra Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The smart cities would be required to provide round-the-clock drinking water, power, transport and health services at affordable prices to the public, he added.

The development of a smart city needs political will and guts to enforce proper taxation system, implement good governance, weed out corruption and check unauthorised constructions, he said. He also appealed to the public to pay taxes properly to avail the amenities and services. It is not decided yet, state governments have to propose the names for it. The four metros, the capitals of states and major cities and their surrounding areas would be developed as smart cities, he said.