The Smart City Mission (SCM) provides for two-pronged strategy, which concentrates on:

1. The Area Based Development Projects which are to be limited to a specified area and
2. The Pan City Projects that are supposed to be implemented across the city.

The strategic components of area-based development in the Smart Cities Mission are city improvement (retrofitting), city renewal (redevelopment) and city extension (greenfield development). Pan-city development envisages application of selected Smart Solutions to the existing city-wide infrastructure. Application of Smart Solutions will involve the use of technology, information and data to make infrastructure and services better.

The New Delhi City Centre (NDCC), consisting of Connaught Place and contiguous surrounding areas of approx. 550 acres, has been selected for undertaking the retrofitting model of development, based on stakeholder consultations, desk research and the underlying need to transform the area as a 'World Class Urban Area'. The area comprises of important Commercial areas (Connaught Place (CBD), Bengali Market, Janpath etc.), Heritage areas (Jantar Mantar and Agrasen Ki Baoli etc.), International Institutions (Foreign Embassies / Mission offices as Nepal Embassy, British Council, Soviet Cultural Centre, Max Muller Bhawan etc.), Happiness Area (Central Park Connaught Place, Hanuman Lane Park, Palika Bazar), Religious Areas (Hanuman Mandir, Sacred Cathedral, Aulia Mosque and Gurudwara Bangla Sahib). Various Area Based Development Projects are implemented under 3 different categories :

1. Physical Infrastructure
2. Social Infrastructure
3. Value Infrastructure

The Pan-city Projects leverages ICT interventions in basic Infrastructure to improve livability and transform NDMC towards its stated vision of being the world's benchmark capital city. It addresses the issues of water, power, education, healthcare & governance by utilizing M2M & IOT technologies. Various PAN City Development Projects are implemented under 5 different categories :

1. E-Governance
2. Smart Grid and Energy Management
3. Smart Water and Waste Management
4. Smart Education
5. Smart Health