'We don't need IT here': the inside story of India’s smart city gold rush

The first winners of India's Smart City Challenge will be announced next week, as part of prime minister Narendra Modi's ambitious plans to transform urban life. Rahul Bhatia goes behind the scenes in the final, chaotic stages of one bid

In the final days of India's first Smart City Challenge - an endeavour both ambitious and suspect - consultants just wanted the whole thing done with. As the December deadline for submissions approached, they crisscrossed the country holding on to nearly finished plans and proposals for the cities they had been assigned just two months earlier.

Their documents evoked those familiar, romantic overtures of urban development: constant electricity and an endless flow of water, cyclists with their own avenues, renewed rivers and promenades for families to enjoy each evening, and streetlights that sensed when they were needed. The effects would be felt far beyond the limited geography of each smart city, the consultants thought.