Page 12 - DIGITAL ISSUE MAY 2018

COVER STORY Powered by
SMART CITIES e “Smart City Mission” of the Government of India to develop and 29 to co-create smart city solutions a er understanding issues

that a ect the people of a city. e areas of focus will be arti cial
109 cities as Smart Cities, while being a much-needed initiative is
intelligence, water, energy, transportation, waste management,
still quite slow in its progression. Out of the 9,860 crores released to
healthcare, climate and smart agriculture.
60 cities, only seven percent have been utilized so far. Of `196 crore
released to each of 40 cities, Ahmedabad has spent the maximum
With a lot of activity on-ground, we decided to take a look at
amount of `80.15 crore, followed by Indore (`70.69 crore), Surat
Smart City Mission, and assess where we are vis-a-vis the vision.
(`43.41 crore) and Bhopal `42.86 crore.
Resource crunch, lack of adequate private sector interest, land some of the typical features of a smart city as de ned by the
acquisition problems, lack of proper coordination between di erent Promoting mixed land use in area based developments to make
government agencies and a shortage of urban planners are holding land use more e cient.
up many projects. Plus in country driven populism and political A new crop of smart cities in the mammoth Delhi Mumbai
plurality, any long-term planning is always su used with grave Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project including Dholera (Gujarat),
uncertainty. Aurangabad Industrial City (AURIC) in Maharashtra, Vikram
But globally the idea of Smart Cities mission of India is drawing Udyogpuri (MP) and Integrated Industrial Township Greater
a lot of interest. Several Taiwanese companies have come together Noida (IITGNL) in UP are propelling the Smart City Mission
under the banner of Taiwan External Trade Development in India. ese autonomous, state-of-the-art industrial cities with
Council (TAITRA) to explore investment in sectors including high-speed road and rail connectivity, logistics hubs, dependable
petrochemicals, electric vehicles, food processing, automobile parts power and water, waste management and recycling, and commercial
and components, machine tools and information technology. While and social infrastructure are aiming to trigger local businesses and
India and Russia are expanding their partnership beyond traditional boost investments. Construction of the trunk infrastructure and
domains into IT so ware and hardware solutions to back India’s land allocations is already underway in four of the eight cities
smart cities and infrastructure programs. planned in the rst phase of the project. Up to 65 percent of the
According to project is being o ered on PPP mode creating sizeable investment
According to Mangesh Wadaje, Director & CEO,
Highbar Technocrat, “India is experiencing opportunities. In Dholera, the Gujarat state government has
Highbar Technocrat,
*Digital Transformation* through Smart
*Digital Transformation* through Smart undertaken infrastructure projects worth `3,000 crore including
Cities, Urban Transportation & Infrastructure setting up a Common E uent Treatment Plant (CETP). Part of the
Cities, Urban Transportation & Infrastructure
Development Projects.Information Technology is Pipali-Dholera Pipeline Project, the project will have the capacity of
Development Projects.Information Technology is
at the core of this Digital Transformation. Highbar
at the core of this Digital Transformation. Highbar processing 20 million liters a day and will supply water to Dholera.
has taken the initiative to gain the rst mover In light of the public-private partnership (PPP) model, the Naya
has taken the initiative to gain the rst mover
advantage through implementation of breakthrough Technologies Raipur City, the capital City of the newly established State of
like 5-Dimensional Digital Project Management Platform at Maha Chhattisgarh has come up with a host of new projects like Smart
Metro, ICT Implementation at AURIC, India's rst Industrial Parking, Smart Payment System, Solid Waste management, Roof
Smart City at Aurangabad and at Bhubaneswar Smart City. In Top Solar Project, and area-based market redevelopment.
enabling robust, secure and scalable technology solutions for Further down south, AURIC is the next planned and green eld
infrastructure mega projects that represent tomorrow's India, smart industrial city in Maharashtra. Being developed across
Highbar focuses on ensuring citizens using this infrastructure will 10000 acres, AURIC’s smart concept of ‘walk to work’ is expected
enjoy a better experience than ever before." to generate investments worth `70,000 crore and jobs to three
According to Malabika Mandal, Senior Industry Analyst, lakh people. is new integrated industrial township will be a mix
Visionary Innovation Research Group, Frost & Sullivan, of o ce spaces, residences, hotels, large and small format retails,
“Smart Cities have the potential to create around schools, hospitals, parks and entertainment hubs. 60 per cent of
“Smart Cities have the potential to create around
$30 to $40 billion business opportunities for the the total land is reserved for industrial purposes and 40 per cent for
$30 to $40 billion business opportunities for the
information technology sector alone.” residential, commercial, institutions, open spaces and socio-cultural
information technology sector alone.”
A recent example is a new initiative, ‘Smart
A recent example is a new initiative, ‘Smart amenities. Hyosung Corporation, the South Korean industrial
City 4.0’, launched by Innovation Acceleration conglomerate has committed an investment of `3,000 crore in
City 4.0’, launched by Innovation Acceleration
Group at University of California Berkeley AURIC to build a factory for manufacturing spandex.
Group at University of California Berkeley
Executive Education (UC Berkeley). Introduced in According to sources at Embassy Industrial Parks, a joint venture
Executive Education (UC Berkeley). Introduced in
collaboration with the United States India Strategic Partnership between realty developer Embassy Group and private equity rm
Forum and 1M1B, a non-pro t body, Smart City 4.0 aims at Warburg Pincus, the onslaught of technological advancements,
developing the skills of young innovators, startups and large strategic urban planning and sufficient provisions of utilities
corporations for solutions that make cities "smart, safe and is encouraging a good mix of both domestic and international
sustainable". As a part of the ongoing initiative, India's Smart City companies to set up base in India, creating a thrust in several
Co-Innovation Lab will be established in Allahabad, a city that ancillary segments including the warehousing sector. Responding to
has been identi ed by the government under its 100 smart cities the market development, the company recently acquired 24 acres in
mission. "In a year, we are looking at about 15-20 startups to be Gurgaon for `38 crore to set up a warehousing facility and invested
produced from one lab," said Manav Subodh, director, International another `350 crores in developing a 1.1-million sq industrial
Development, Innovation Acceleration Group. park at Chakan, Pune. e group is also further planning to invest
e programme will invite young people between the ages of 18 about `1,600 crores as equity to build 7-8 industrial parks over the

12 CONSTRUCTION OPPORTUNITIES|MAY 2018