Smart City News: Chandigarh Funds Case, Sejong Homes
A former finance chief of Chandigarh’s smart city company has been refused bail in a Rs 78 crore fund diversion case, and the way the money went missing is worth a closer look. That leads this edition of our smart city news roundup, which also covers a December deadline in Karnal, a sharp column on Srinagar’s narrow lanes, a new brand for Korea’s Sejong pilot city, a heat network in Bradford, and a report showing cities setting tougher climate targets than their national governments.
Three of the six stories are from India and three are from abroad. If you are following how city systems come together in one place, our complete guide to control rooms is a good companion read.
Smart city news from India
Chandigarh court refuses bail to ex-smart city CFO in Rs 78 crore case
A special CBI court has rejected a second bail plea from Nalini Malik, former chief financial officer of Chandigarh Smart City Limited, in the alleged diversion of Rs 78 crore through accounts at IDFC First Bank, the Hindustan Times reports. The problem surfaced when the company’s assets and records were being handed to the municipal corporation after the project closed in March 2025, and officials found that fixed deposits of about Rs 117 crore shown in the records did not exist in the bank’s books. Her lawyers say she handed over charge in March 2025 and is being made a scapegoat; the CBI says its investigation into the money trail is still going on.[1]
Read the original: ₹78-cr govt funds diversion case: CBI court denies bail to ex-Smart City CFO (Hindustan Times)
Handover is when the gaps show: This is the second time in a few weeks that the end of a smart city company has exposed money problems. Our earlier roundup covered a CAG audit of Nagpur that flagged Rs 1,646 crore in pending utilisation certificates. Cities still winding up their SPVs would do well to reconcile every deposit with the bank directly before signing off.
Karnal sets a December-end deadline for its smart city works
Deputy Commissioner Anand Kumar Sharma, who is also CEO of Karnal Smart City Ltd, has told the municipal corporation, HSVP and UHBVN to finish all ongoing smart city projects by the end of December, The Tribune reports. The list includes the Rs 24.84 crore first phase of the Karna Stadium redevelopment, a Rs 30.8 crore commercial space at the Old Grain Market, Rs 22.82 crore of stormwater drain work and Rs 36 crore to move overhead 11 kV and LT lines underground.[2]
Read the original: Karnal administration fixes December deadline for Smart City works (The Tribune)
Still building after the deadline: Karnal is one of many cities still finishing mission projects well after the Smart Cities Mission’s March 2025 end date. Our overview of India’s Smart Cities Mission in 2026 explains why so much work is still on the ground.
Srinagar column asks whether an ambulance can reach your door
A column in the Kashmir Observer argues that Srinagar’s smart city plans mean little if ambulances and fire tenders cannot get through the city’s crowded residential colonies. The writer names areas such as Natipora, Peerbagh, Chanapora and Bachpora, and points to J&K Economic Survey figures showing the district’s registered vehicles rising from about 1.31 lakh in 2006 to 4.72 lakh by March 2025. The plea is to extend the mission’s mobility goals from main roads into the lanes where people actually live.[3]
Read the original: Srinagar’s Smart City Needs Roads That Save Lives (Kashmir Observer)
Fire safety starts on the street: Fire tender access is checked closely when a building is approved, but the lane outside rarely gets the same attention afterwards. A good alarm system buys time only if the responders can get to the door.
Smart city news from abroad
Korea’s Sejong pilot city gets a brand name and its first homes
The leading district of Sejong’s national smart city pilot, a 3 trillion won (about $2.1 billion) project, will be called Sejong Smart City L, and its first housing complex goes on presale this month, the Seoul Economic Daily reports. Sejong Smart City L Sujain will have 2,191 apartments and 125 officetel units. Residents will get delivery robots that ride the lifts, patrol robots, health suggestions based on personal data, and smart home and parking services, all through one app.[4]
Read the original: Sejong Smart City Pilot Project Adopts Brand Name ‘Sejong Smart City L’ (Seoul Economic Daily)
One app, one big target: Putting every home service into a single app is convenient, but it also puts a lot of personal data in one place. Our post on Korea’s apartment data breach showed what happens when a housing app is not well protected.
Bradford switches on a £75 million heat network at an old gasworks
A heat network built on the site of a Victorian gasworks on Bradford’s Thornton Road has officially gone live, BBC News reports. Developer 1Energy uses large air source heat pumps to heat water and pipes it through 5 km of underground pipes to City Hall, the courts, the University of Bradford and Bradford College, and plans to add waste heat from a planned 5.6 MW data centre later. The project was funded with £55 million of private money and £20 million from the UK’s Green Heat Network Fund.[5]
Read the original: Victorian gasworks in Bradford turned into heat pump network (BBC News)
Storage makes it smart: The interesting part is that the plant can store heat and produce it when power is cheap or cleaner. In India the closer match is district cooling, and the same idea of shifting load to cheaper hours applies to any large building. Our smart building checklist covers the basics.
Cities are setting tougher climate targets than their countries
The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy says 95 per cent of new city climate targets set in the past decade go beyond their national government’s ambition, Smart Cities World reports. Its 10-year impact report, released at COP31 in Antalya, says the network now has more than 14,000 members, and the number with net-zero targets and a plan to reach them rose from 211 in 2025 to 580 in 2026. Some 3,078 cities have finished climate risk assessments covering about 735 million people.[6]
Read the original: City climate targets are exceeding national ambitions (Smart Cities World)
From targets to funding: In our last roundup the same network launched a task force to match cities with investors, because many climate pilots stall for lack of money. Ambitious targets are the easy half; the report’s next test is how many of those plans get paid for.
Trisim’s view: the hard part comes after the ribbon
Chandigarh’s case surfaced only at handover, Karnal is racing a deadline, and Srinagar’s column is about what happens long after a road is opened. Abroad, Bradford’s network is interesting because of how it is run, not because it was built. The lesson is the same everywhere: a city project is judged by how it is operated, maintained and accounted for once the launch is over.
Planning or upgrading a command and control centre? Talk to Trisim Global Solutions.
Sources
- Hindustan Times, ₹78-cr govt funds diversion case: CBI court denies bail to ex-Smart City CFO, accessed 13 November 2026
- The Tribune, Karnal administration fixes December deadline for Smart City works, accessed 13 November 2026
- Kashmir Observer, Srinagar’s Smart City Needs Roads That Save Lives, accessed 13 November 2026
- Seoul Economic Daily, Sejong Smart City Pilot Project Adopts Brand Name ‘Sejong Smart City L’, accessed 13 November 2026
- BBC News, Victorian gasworks in Bradford turned into heat pump network, accessed 13 November 2026
- Smart Cities World, City climate targets are exceeding national ambitions, accessed 13 November 2026