Two of the Smart cities for country’s capital
September 12, 2014
Delhi could get two of the smart cities — a brand new one in the city’s outskirts to be developed by the Delhi Development Authority and a second in New Delhi Municipal Council area.
This has been proposed in the first blueprint of Modi government’s ambitious project to develop 100 smart cities across India. Drafted by the urban development (UD) ministry, the concept note proposes to include 44 cities with a population between 1 to 4 million under the scheme.
As first reported by HT on August 27, the UD ministry’s concept note has estimated an annual investment of Rs. 35,000 crore for developing the 100 smart cities.
However, the note stops short of elaborating on how the funds would be generated. The note, which was put online for public discussion, has knocked off parts from an earlier draft which proposed a host of measures for raising funds from the public.
It says that a large part of the financing for smart cities will have to come from private sector and mentions broadly mentions imposing of user charges for utilities and a betterment levy for “enhancing the resource pool” without specifying how much fund would be generated from these measures.
Some of the basic criteria proposed for selecting cities includes cities which have an approved Master Plan, which can commit to provide free right of way for laying optic fibre networks among others.
The note says that a smart city would have facilities ranging from uninterrupted power and water supply, online delivery of all public services, and an effective public transport system among others.
Source:Hindustan Times
5 key elements of PM Narendra Modi’s 100 smart cities
September 11, 2014
PM Narendra ModiThe Centre has prepared a blueprint to define the key elements of the 100 smart cities it plans to establish across the nation. The cities were one of the main promises made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year
Govt sets ball rolling for smart city project in Ujjain
September 10, 2014
The Union government will soon start the process for construction of a ‘smart city’ near Ujjain which will be developed under Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project.
The Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (DMICDC) plans to invite bids for developing trunk infrastructure for the smart city at Vikram Udyogpuri near Ujjain by October, an industry department official told HT.
The DMICDC will invite international competitive bidding for developing trunk infrastructure including water supply, sewerage treatment and roadways among others. The government will provide funds for the trunk infrastructure through DMIC Trust.
The state government has proposed to develop 444 hectare land for residential, commercial, public and semi-public buildings besides educational institutes and industrial training institutes (ITIs). “The first phase project cost has been estimated at Rs. 808.60 crore and it will be completed by 2019,” the official said.
The Vikram Udyogpuri township will consist of automotive and auto components, IT and engineering services industries and educational institutions.
In January this year, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) had approved the development of trunk infrastructure for Vikram Udyogpuri which falls in Pithampur-Dhar-Mhow investment region of the DMIC project. According to official estimates, the industrial township at Vikram Udyogpuri is expected to attract private sector investments of around Rs. 13,000 crore.
A special purpose vehicle has already been floated for the project, which will invite private developers to develop, operate and maintain real estate projects and commercial development on Public Private Partnership (PPP) basis and operation and maintenance of selected trunk infrastructure. The SPV comprises the subsidiaries of the Madhya Pradesh government and DMIC Trust.
A smart city must have three of the five infrastructure requirements – energy management, water management, transport and traffic, safety and security and solid waste management. At the same time, it must have three of the five application domains – healthcare, education, inclusion, participative governance and community services.
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) will lend funds for the project.
Chandigarh to be ‘rebuilt’ as smart city, minister of state for home affairs Kiren Rijiju says
September 10, 2014
On his maiden visit to the city as a minister, he said that he held meetings with the officers of the local administration and discussed the issues of development of the city.
“Whole of Chandigarh will be fresh (developed as new) … it will re-built … the MHA under which Chandigarh comes will ensure that it comes up as a smart city,” he said.
The minister, who also attended the passing out parade of ITBP near here, said the Centre is prepared for all possible help for development of Chandigarh.
Rijiju, who also inaugurated the solar power plant and newly built auditorium in the PG government college for girls at Sector 42 here, said that Chandigarh being an ideal city, it is appropriate that the college has gone in for solar energy which would be the energy of the future.
The minister said that the state of the act auditorium would help in honing and developing the skills of students in the extra-curricular activities, which are as important as studies.
He refused to comment on controversy created over recent remarks by Union minister Arun Jaitley on rape and its affect on tourism. “I won’t comment on it,” he said.
On the issue of special privileges, including passes to visit restricted areas and free air travel reportedly sought by BJP MP’s for their personal secretaries, the minister said that “we take review of excesses of ministers and officers and then decide upon it.”
“I can’t comment upon it (privileges) … I will discuss with the BJP and come back with a reply,” he added.
Meanwhile, Kirron Kher, Lok Sabha MP from Chandigarh, said that she would make all effort to make Chandigarh the first smart city in the country.
She expressed her happiness to be involved in the development of the city.
The new auditorium has a seating capacity of 600 and was built at a cost of Rs 5 crore in three years.
Meeting of state ministers called to push smart cities vision
September 10, 2014
NEW DELHI: In its bid to finalise the roadmap for NDA’s flagship scheme “100 smart cities” the Centre has called a meeting of state urban development ministers on September 12 for consultation.
Union urban development minister Venkaiah Naidu said on Thursday that he has written to the states to participate in the meeting since state governments have to play a big role in this pet project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Claiming that the planning for this massive programme is in advanced stage of finalisation, Naidu said, “Foreign governments have also sent notes on this expressing interest. We are studying them and will come out with a policy soon,” he said.
On Wednesday, the secretary to the urban development ministry Shankar Aggarwal had said that the process for finalising the framework for smart cities is a huge exercise and all possible pitfalls, effects and other factors are being considered before announcement of the policy. He had also said that private sector will have huge opportunities to put these projects in place.
He had also said that builders and developers for the smart cities would be adequately incentivised. As a part of the plan, while a few new cities would be developed as “smart” ones the prime focus is on improving infrastructure and living conditions in existing cities.
Singapore to help India in smart cities project
September 10, 2014
SINGAPORE: Having allocated over Rs 7,000 crore in its recent budget for development of 100 ‘smart cities’, India today roped in Singapore for providing its expertise in this even as the two countries decided to step up economic engagement besides defence and security cooperation.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj concluded a hectic 24-hour visit here with an understanding with this city-state to identify concrete projects in skills development and rejuvenation of Indian cities which would include ‘smart cities’.
The concept of ‘smart cities’ as satellite towns of larger ones was enunciated in last month’s budget by the new NDA government which has allocated a sum of Rs 7,060 crore for the ambitious plan.
“Singapore’s expertise in smart cities, urban planning and water management strategies offer a valuable learning experience for India. We shall work for setting up greenfield smart cities and for urban rejuvenation. Our experts shall identify the priorities and we shall coordinate its timely delivery,” Swaraj said before leaving for New Delhi
Source:Economic Times
Akhilesh Yadav counters PM Narendra Modi’s smart cities with digital villages
September 10, 2014
LUCKNOW: The ruling SP may have been routed in the LS polls by the Narendra Modi juggernaut but CM Akhilesh Yadav is gearing up to counter the PM’s governance agenda with people-centric initiatives.
If Modi has been talking about ‘Smart Cities’, Yadav has quietly put together the framework for a massive ‘Digital Villages’ project, which aims to provide a host of services to the rural population, speedily and at their doorstep.
The Smart Villages project envisages linking up of 16,000 fully computerised Jan Suvidha Kendras (JSKs) in villages across the state to central data centres holding digitised government records so that any document or certificate needed by the villagers can be accessed and provided to them “over the counter” without any delay.
These documents relate to land records (khasra-khatauni), caste certificates, taxes, domicile, income certificates, death and birth certificates, etc. As part of this initiative, 53 such documents or certificates will be made available to villagers over the counter at the JSKs.
Most of the work that a common man has with the government relates to either land records or caste certificates and other such documents, said Naveen Kumar GS, special secretary, IT. “They have to travel to the district headquarter or the block office which involves much time, cost and endless delays which hurt poor villagers. Normally a person would have to travel for 15 days before getting the documents in his hands,” he said, adding, “We have initiated the JSKs with the aim of making these services available in the village itself. One JSK has been set up for every six villages in the state. So a villager can find a JSK a short walk away – 16,000 JSKs are already up and running.”
“Hyderabad will be developed as ‘Global Smart City’”
September 1, 2014
Minister for Irrigation T. Harish Rao said the government was committed to develop Hyderabad as a ‘Global Smart City’ and showcase as an ‘investor-friendly’ destination by implementing the assurances made by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao to CREDAI (Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India).
At the concluding ceremony of the 3{+r}{+d}edition of CREDAI Hyderabad Property Show, 2014 on Sunday, he said the State welcomed all communities to stay in Hyderabad and that in two years, the government could assure 365 days of power and water supply. “We will issue the GO on rationalised seigniorage fee to Rs. 3 per square foot of built-up area very soon. We can see a boom in the real estate sector in Hyderabad from 2015 onwards,” he said.
National president CREDAI, Shekar Reddy said Telangana had set an example for other States to follow, with Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s assurance to remove unwanted NOC, single window approval and removal of VAT and Non-Agriculture Tax (NALA) too.
Source:The Hindu
Consider smart cards for motor vehicle policy holders: HC tells Centre
August 27, 2014
The Madras High Court on Tuesday called upon the Department of Banking and Insurance to consider issuing cashless smart cards to motor vehicle policy holders by public and private sector insurance companies so that accident victims could get the best and timely medical aid.
The First Bench, of Chief Justice S.K. Kaul and Justice M. Sathyanarayanan, passed the order on a writ petition by A.P. Suryaprakasam, an advocate, who said several accident victims, belonging to poor families, suffered untold hardships for want of quality and timely medical aid. In most of the hit and run cases, vehicle drivers did not come forward to help victims because they themselves could not afford to meet the initial medical expenses. Hence, he made a representation to the Department to direct all insurance companies to issue smart cards to vehicle owners at the time of issuing the insurance policy. The cards could be used by the person causing accident to admit the victims in the nearest hospital for timely and quality treatment during the Golden Hour.
Policy decision
Disposing of the petition, the Bench said the matter involved a policy decision. It was for the Department to examine the suggestion within three months and communicate the decision to the petitioner.
This will help accident victims get the best and timely medical aid
Source:The Hindu
Is Tirupati ready to become a smart city?
August 5, 2014
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An aerial view of Tirupati.—Photo: K.V. Poornachandra Kumar
It requires realistic planning, robust execution, unflinching political will and uninterrupted flow of funds
The evolution of Tirupati from a Tier-II city into a smart city, as envisaged by the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre, will require realistic planning, robust execution, unflinching political will, keen persuasion by the State and needless to say uninterrupted flow of funds.
In a nutshell, it takes a lot of efforts for the idea to translate into a reality. Though the project’s contours are still hazy and there is nothing on paper yet, city planners and policy makers are taking little steps in that direction with Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s directive to envisage plans for the next 50 years, not 20 years being the guiding light.
District Minister Bojjala Gopalakrishna Reddy, who is holding the portfolio of Environment and Forests, calls a ‘smart city’ as the one that provides ‘all comforts to all its residents’. “The proposed smart city will offer housing, water supply, sanitation, electricity, state-of-the-art public transport, higher education, civic amenities and other infrastructural facilities to all its residents by using ‘smart’ technology. It will be an enviable place to live in”, the minister told The Hindu.
While Tirupati relies more on travel, tourism and hospitality industries that generate a major chunk of income, Union Minister Shripad Naik laid the stone for the prestigious Indian Culinary Institute (ICI) here on Sunday, which assures a quantum leap on this front. Now, it is all set to become an Information Technology destination, with the Cabinet clearing the proposals for an IT hub, a Centre-sponsored IT Investment Region (ITIR) and also a Tirupati-Anantapur IT corridor.
The ambitious mix of travel, hospitality and IT industries is sure to catapult Tirupati several rungs higher to make it a real ‘smart city’.
With the city having the imposing Tirumala hills on its immediate north, planned expansion has to happen in the other three directions – Renigunta-Karakambadi on the east, Chandragiri on the west and Rayala Cheruvu on the south. The Avilala and Peruru tanks located on the immediate southern and western make planners task all the more difficult as any expansion has to happen without touching these major water bodies.
In fact, when planned for the next 50 years, the outer periphery of Tirupati is likely to extend southwards up to Puttur-Nagari on the Tamil Nadu border, Mannavaram-Yerpedu-Srikalahasti on the north-east, Rangampet on north-west and Pakala to south-west. “Development of satellite townships and industrial hubs will have to be planned in these directions, considering the natural limitations around the city such as hills, water bodies and reserve forests”, says I. Venkateswara Reddy, Vice-Chairman of the Tirupati Urban Development Authority.
(Reporting by A. D. Rangarajan)
Source:The Hindu
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