Kolkata, 29 November 2014

Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious dream of building 100 Smart Cities by 2022, the union government will come up with guidelines within the next two months to ensure that the Indian private sector plays a crucial role.

“The role of the union government is limited. We will put up minimal guidelines so that the state governments and the developers can develop the Smart Cities on their own,” said Shankar Aggarwal, secretary, ministry of urban development, at MCC Chamber of Commerce here.

Although the Smart Cities have not been identified yet, Aggarwal said the cities will be shortlisted in “proportion to the population” and will include all capital cities and major towns.

Even as India trails behind China and Indonesia by 19 percent in terms of urban population, 8000 cities and towns in India are fueling the growth contributing at least 60 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The Centre is now keen to fuel the growth in the Smart Cities with private investment.

“Private investors may participate by taking a part of equity or in any other form. We will be able to come out with the guidelines in two months’ time,” Aggarwal added.

The Centre is keen to address related environmental hazards while developing the Smart Cities and has come up with Climate Smart Cities programme to encourage “green growth”.

The Smart Cities is envisaged not only to incorporate green cutting edge technologies, but will also address waste management including solid waste recycling and disposal systems.