The smart city mission, as envisaged by the Prime Minister, is embedded in the idea of promoting cities that provide ease of living to its citizens, with core infrastructural development, a clean and sustainable environment and access to resources through the adoption of data-oriented “smart solutions”. Through extensive work on the social, economic, physical, and institutional pillars of the city, smart cities seek to promote economic growth and enhance the quality of life. The goal is to create reproducible models that serve as beacons for other aspirant cities, with an emphasis on sustainable and inclusive development. However, this new face of urbanisation — emanating from India’s strive to adopt innovative digital and sustainable approaches to achieve its goal — is not unilateral. It is intrinsically tied to different aspects of governance, especially reforms at the level of local governance with the aim of making urban local bodies and their admin