India, Japan sign pact on Urban Development

New Delhi, May 1 (UNI) India and Japan today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for setting up a Joint Working Group on Urban Development.

Urban Development Minister S Jaipal Reddy and Japanese Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Tetsuzo Fuyshiba inked the pact here.

The first meeting of the Working Group is scheduled to be held in Tokyo in June this year. The meeting is expected to discuss specific areas of cooperation in the fields of water environment, urban development and urban transport.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Reddy said the Japan Bank for International Cooperation had provided a loan of over US 1.36 billion dollar for Delhi Mass Rapid Transit System, MRTS project which was a shining example of Indo-Japanese Cooperation in urban transport.

He said Japan's expertise in advanced urban transport technologies in the fields of Metro Rail, Mono Rail, Linear Metro and Maglev were being introduced in India also.

Mr Reddy said India would welcome technical collaboration with Japanese experts for setting up such systems in other metropolitan cities. He also sought Japanese collaboration in the field of Intelligent Transport Systems and Traffic Information Centres as the government was promoting them in all cities having million plus population.

He said the total investment required in urban transport in India during the next five years is estimated at US 29.5 billon dollars. He stated that the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, JBIC's assistance would be further required for the new corridors being sanctioned for Delhi Metro Phase II Project as well as for other Metro Projects like Kolkata and East-West Corridor.

The Urban Development Minister said that other areas of collaboration could be integrated land use planning, safety certification mechanism and laying down parameters for Guided Urban Transit Systems, GUTS.

Japanese Minister Fuyshiba, who is heading a 17-member delegation said the Delhi Metro was the symbolic expression of goodwill between India and Japan.

During Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Japan in December 2006, India and Japan agreed to establish a Strategic and Global Partnership involving political and diplomatic coordination on bilateral, regional and global issues.

The two sides have also agreed to set up Joint Working Group in the fields of water environment, urban development and urban transportation.

UNI