Cities to compete for the 'Smart' tag

New Delhi, Jan 30: Getting the 'Smart' city tag is not that easy, the Narendra Modi government has made it clear. The Modi government's pet project of creating 100 smart cities across the country will be executed by a competition.

And the criteria for selection would be the implementation of Prime Minister's campaigns, including the Swacch Bharat and Make in India. The other parameters, however, could be infrastructure, quality of life, and citizen-centric services.

This was what was told to a group of developers and industry leaders in MUmbai today. However, the policy on the smart city would be officially announced on March 31.

The smart city project is likely to be a Public-Private Partnership worth Rs. 7,060 crore and help is expected from US, France, Singapore and Japan.

The secretary of the Urban Development Ministry, Shankar Aggarwal said,"
to accommodate this massive urbanisation, India needs to find ways to improve the quality of life of citizens."

While Delhi is likely to be the first smart city, an attempt is made to Mumbai's Wadala Greenfield as the other one. "The government has to figure out the basic infrastructure. You can't make congested, potholed roads, smart. We will make utilisation of roads and transportation digitally fit," said Ravi Kant Mahlan, who is the director of Smart Cities and Special Projects, Schneider Electric India.

OneIndia News