Bhupendra Patel Hands Over Development Funds to Gujarat Cities

Gandhinagar – Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel distributed a total of ₹3,850 crore to Gujarat’s urban local bodies on Tuesday, marking a key milestone in the state’s ongoing city‑building agenda. The grants, part of the Swarnim Jayanti Chief Minister Urban Development Scheme, were divided into ₹2,992 crore for 17 municipal corporations and ₹858 crore for 152 municipalities.

The ceremony, attended by Urban Development Minister Kanu Desai, Agriculture Minister Jitu Vaghani, State Urban Development Ministers Darshna Vaghela and Jagdish Makwana, saw Ahmedabad receive the highest share of ₹870 crore, with Surat following at ₹770 crore. Other notable allocations included Vadodara (₹285 crore), Rajkot (₹232 crore), and both Bharuch and Jamnagar (₹105 crore each). Smaller towns such as Junagadh and Gandhinagar were allotted ₹65 crore while a group of ten towns each got ₹55 crore.

Class‑A municipal bodies (41) obtained ₹307.5 crore, Class‑B (34) ₹221 crore, Class‑C (60) ₹270 crore, and Class‑D (17) ₹59.5 crore. Patel highlighted that the funds are intended to accelerate infrastructure upgrades, improve civic services and promote a citizen‑centric, transparent, and technology‑enabled approach to urban governance.