What is the number of cities in U.P. which are covered under  ‘Smart City’ Scheme?

The answer is B) 12. Uttar Pradesh has 12 cities under the Smart Cities Mission, a scheme launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in June 2015. The selection came in rounds, with cities such as Lucknow, Kanpur, Agra, Varanasi and Allahabad (Prayagraj) in the first round, and others like Aligarh, Bareilly, Moradabad, Saharanpur, Gorakhpur, Jhansi, Ghaziabad and Rampur added later.

The core concept is the Smart Cities Mission: area-based development, retrofitting and smart solutions in urban India, not a blanket upgrade of every city. For Mains (GS-III, Urbanisation and Infrastructure), be ready to discuss its limits, such as the gap between smart-city tools and basic civic services and the role of Special Purpose Vehicles.

Why the others are wrong: 10, 15 and 18 do not match the official UP selections in the mission's rounds. The exact list has been revised over time, so for exam purposes, rely on the count of 12 as it stood in the standard lists.

Trap: Candidates confuse the Smart Cities Mission with AMRUT, which covers many more cities. Keep the two schemes separate in your notes.