NEW DELHI: With an aim to help India establish its urban areas as Smart Cities, a large Russian delegation is currently in the national capital where it is interacting with the government and private sectors to develop sectors such as transportation, urban planning and green energy.
“India is making huge strides in urban modernisation. Russia is committed to deepen and diversify bilateral economic and technological cooperation with India,” said Russian Ambassador to India, Denis Alipov during an event organised by the Russian government called Smart Cities Forum.
Moscow is known as one of the most developed and advanced nations in the world, and can share its expertise to develop cities in India like Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai.
In 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched a programme called ‘smart cities mission’ which until 2030 is targeted at covering 100 Indian cities, towns for development.
The special focus of the mission is Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka. Nearly 8,000 projects worth about $20 billion have been implemented. In addition, there are plans to allocate $6.5 billion, mainly for projects to develop “smart mobility”, public spaces, waste disposal and water supply.
One of the well-known examples of the realisation of such a model is GIFT City in the state of Gujarat. “A number of Russian companies, which are included in the list of participants of Smart Cities Expo, already visited India before as part of business missions. Now they are actively interacting with Indian entrepreneurs, launching joint projects and opening their representative offices in Indian cities.
Russian business will share their experience, stories of success, challenges that they face in the Indian market,’’ said Alexander Rybas, Trade Commissioner of the Russian Federation in India.
At present 31 per cent of India’s population lives in cities. By 2030, this figure is expected to reach 40 per cent and the share of cities in the country’s GDP is expected to reach 75 per cent. Population growth in cities is leading to challenges in infrastructure management and service delivery.
$20bn worth projects
The special focus of the mission is Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka. Nearly 8,000 projects worth about $20 billion have been implemented. In addition, there are plans to allocate $6.5 billion, mainly for projects to develop “smart mobility”, public spaces, waste disposal and water supply. An example of such a model is the GIFT City in Gujarat.