Technology-based efficient governance, better mobility and energy conservation will be among the parameters of the Modi Government’s ambitious ‘100 smart cities’ project.
A senior official in the Ministry of Urban Development said, “The ‘smart city’ idea is in incubation stage at present and it has to be seen whether smart cities will mean free Wi-Fi or whether they will incorporate mobility projects including navigation traffic signal control systems.”
Budget allocationThe cities will be developed as satellite towns of larger cities and by modernising the existing mid-sized cities, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said in his budget speech. The government has allocated ₹7,060 crore in this fiscal for this.
According to a recent UN report, Delhi has now become the world’s second most populous city with 2.5 crore population and it is expected that by 2030, it will rise to 3.6 crore.
The ‘smart city’ concept, which doesn’t have a fixed definition as yet, will be developed to address upcoming challenges by implementing modern infrastructure enabling ‘smart’ solutions and technologies in cities. Mobility and traffic conditions are one of the biggest problems in cities today.
ParametersA recent Frost and Sullivan report has identified eight key aspects that define a smart city – smart governance, smart energy, smart building, smart mobility, smart infrastructure, smart technology, smart healthcare and smart citizens.
The report added that in 2025, it is expected that there will be around 26 smart cities globally which will feature five of the eight aforementioned parameters.
Meanwhile, to encourage development of smart cities, which will also provide habitation for the neo-middle class, the government has reduced the requirement of the built-up area and capital conditions for FDI from 50,000 sq m to 20,000 sq m and from $10 million to $5 million respectively with a three-year post-completion lock-in.