Michael Bloomberg looking forward to work with Indian government regarding Smart cities

September 30, 2014

On Saturday the Indian Prime minister Mr. Narendra Modi met the former US Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The Prime Minister was seen interested in seeking his views on the ambitious 100 smart cities project that his government has undertaken after coming to power in May this year.

The US business magnate showed positive signs regarding the meeting with the Indian Prime Minister as he tweeted”Great meeting India Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Looking forward to working with him on smart cities,anti-tobacco & road safety measures” .

Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American politician and philanthropist. He served as the 108th Mayor of New York City, holding office for three consecutive terms beginning with his first election in 2001. With a net worth of $34 billion, he is the eleventh-richest person in the United States and the sixteenth-wealthiest in the world.He is the founder and 88% owner of Bloomberg L.P., the global financial data and media company notable for its Bloomberg Terminal .The American Philanthropist is recognized for his work in the field of Anti-tobacco campaigns & for improving traffic safety.United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced that he had appointed Bloomberg as his Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change, assisting him in consultations with mayors and related key stakeholders to raise political will and mobilize action among cities as part of a long-term strategy to advance efforts on climate change.

The meeting between the philanthropist & the Indian Prime minister clarifies the intentions of the Prime Minister regarding the establishment of smart cities in India as soon as possible . India is getting MODI-fied indeed!

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under About, Default, Smart City

National Real Estate Summit 2014 decodes smart city

September 30, 2014

The Ministry of Urban Development has began the exercise for formation of a new policy on Smart Cities in tandem with the thought process, as conceived and pronounced by the Prime Minister Modi, in which would prevail all modern amenities and infrastructure supported and well equipped with existing technologies to enable its possessor reap benefits of modern civil life.

Disclosing this at a National Real Estate Summit 2014 organized by PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry here today, Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development Shankar Aggarwal added that the proposed policy would soon be unveiled with due deliberations will all stakeholders.

The builders and developers for the smart cities would be adequately rewarded with incentives and tax sops since 90 per cent of investments in such cities would pour in from the private sector for which the real estate rules and regulations be drastically pruned to woo their investments in them, indicated Shankar adding that the government is likely to repeal the existing red tapes to ensure optimum participation of the private sector.

“The Prime Minister has already asked the Urban Development Ministry to make all possible attempts to drastically remove old and prototype procedures, replacing them with new set of reform oriented approach to develop new real estate as per guidelines of new policy under which creation of 100 smart cities would become practically possible as demanded and required by inhabitants of modern world”, said Shankar.

The major component of Smart City, according to Shankar would comprise a Smart Infrastructure – providing roads, pedestrian pathways, public toilets, water & sewer networks, street lightning networks, signal systems, gas supply systems, solid waste management systems, drainage network, safety and security devices.

Chairman & Managing Director, HUDCO Dr. M Ravi Kanth in his presentation called for reduced rates of interest for housing activities and setting up of smart cities so that these come up within the stipulated time period. He, however, cautioned that credit exposure should be restricted to those entrepreneurs who wilfully turn defaulter and discourage the financial institutions to narrow their exposures for real estate activities for fair of increasing their non-performing assets.

In his welcome remarks senior vice president of PHD Chamber Alok B Shriram urged the government to reduce the cost of borrowing for the housing sector, explaining that this can be achieved by providing interest subvention for low income borrowers.

“Housing faces a disproportionate incidence of taxes amounting to more than 35 per cent of the cost of a completed unit. This can be partially alleviated by giving tax treatment of SEZs to affordable housing projects and providing benefits under Section 35 AD to the real estate sector”, he said.

Among others who participated on the occasion included Chairman & Co-Chairman of the Housing & Urban Development Committee of PHD Chamber Rajeev Talwar & Manish Agarwal.

Source:magic bricks.com

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under About, Smart City

Smart city – a utopian concept?

September 30, 2014

‘Smart city’ has become the buzzword ever since the Narendra Modi government took charge at the Centre, exactly 114 days ago. Since then, government offices and intellectual forums, both at the national and state level, have erupted into numerous discussions and debates over the subject. Though back home in Telangana, chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is yet to commit on just how many of Modi’s 100 smart cities (as proposed by the Prime Minister) would come the new state’s way, his Andhra Pradesh counterpart, N Chandrababu Naidu, has gone right ahead and quoted a rather impressive figure. His estimate: 14 out of 100 would surface in AP soon.

Amidst such ambitious announcements, however, there still seems to be no definite definition for this, clearly overused, term.

While the Union ministry of urban development provides a sketchy summary on its official website, attempting to explain how “Smart cities should be able to provide good infrastructure such as water, sanitation, reliable utility services, healthcare; attract investments; transparent processes that make it easy to run commercial activities,” experts note that such descriptions hold no meaning unless sufficiently supported with a plausible plan to execute the same. What’s also missing, they point out, is a well-defined set of parameters that need to be followed for a city to qualify as a smart city, and clarity on just who the implementing authority would be.

“It appears to me that the government wants these cities to be driven by technology, much on the lines of today’s gated communities, where people would need to use a smart card to access common amenities,” said urban researcher, C Ramachandraiah, while airing his apprehension about the success of such a project. “Given that our existing municipalities do not have the capability to initiate such a programme, this would eventually slip into the hands of private parties and benefit only real estate bigwigs and tech consultants,” he rued.

It is perhaps for such reasons that, Anant Maringanti, of Hyderabad Urban Lab, categorically stated how the proposed ‘smart city’ scheme needs to be designed so as to be able to expand the livelihoods of people working in the informal sector. “A good 90% of the Indian economy is embedded in the informal sector. In most cities, this sector sustains the livelihoods of a very large number of people. If the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) can be deployed to make life easier for them, then that, according to me, would be an elegant smart city,” Maringanti said.

“Unless people have jobs in a city, what is the point in digitizing services and putting up cameras all over or even setting up open wi-fi? That does not make a city ‘smart’,” stated Sudhir K Mahon, former chief planning officer of HMDA, while maintaining that it ultimately boils down to “good governance”. “And that can be achieved through linking of all facilities and services, like water, sewerage, etc, so that they prove to be helpful to the masses. Then a city can be called smart,” he added.

Toeing a similar line of explanation, professor V Srinivas Chary, dean of research, Administrative Staff College of India, defined a ‘smart city’ as one that “can deliver good quality services to all its stakeholders, through the use of ICT, in a cost and resource effective way”. “Given the high level of digital literacy in our country, the proposition seems extremely plausible,” Chary claimed, though stressing the need for city governments to adequately capitalise on the available technology to make the project a success.

“There has to be an integrated system of governance with better coordination among departments to implement such schemes,” reiterated architect, Shankar Narayan. Sharing his definition of a ‘smart city’, Narayan said: “A city that can use its natural resources smartly – be it water or even garbage – and is sustainable and equitable to all its residents, can be labelled a ‘smart city’. Then, whether that is achieved through the use of technology or some other means, is immaterial.”

Source: The Times of India, Hyderabad

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under About, Articles, Smart City

‘Smart city needs smart populace’

September 30, 2014

The use of modern technology with ‘going green’ being the buzzword, innovation and smoother coordination between government bodies are a few key factors that can transform a city like Hyderabad into a smart city, opined a group of intellectuals who met here to deliberate on the various aspects and opportunities of building a ‘smart city,’ on Friday.

Addressing the gathering at the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI), minister for information technology K T Rama Rao said, “The concept of a smart city changes with the country in question. A smart city in Europe might not be the same as in India. For developing a smart city, we need a smart populace and there is the need to instill discipline in people regarding all matters.” According to him, Telangana with its 39 per cent urban population has a distinct advantage when compared to Andhra Pradesh which has 21% people living in urban areas to develop such a city.

He said the government would ensure that all big building install solar power panels to make them energy efficient. “There is a rule in the GHMC Act that makes installation of solar power units mandatory in all multi-storeyed constructions. But a majority of the population is completely unaware of this rule. This could be a major step towards providing a solution to the power crisis in the city and the state. But there has to be proper enforcement of the law for this purpose,” he said, urging GHMC commissioner Somesh Kumar, who was present at the meeting, to strictly follow up on its implementation.

V Srinivas Chary, dean of ASCI, said finding permanent solution to water supply and sewerage problems was crucial to building a smart city. “As per the service delivery standards laid down by the Government of India in 2008, the water board is supposed to reduce leakage of water by 70% and make sure that there is waste water collection. We have not been doing so well in the first aspect and as for the second, it is non-existent,” he said.

He said emerging technology should be adapted to address sewerage problems, for instance, toilets themselves can be turned into mini sewerage treatment plants. “It is this sort of innovation that a smart city is made of,” he said. Urban flooding must also be tackled by installing sensor-based flood control system along the catchment area, experts said, adding, that the city will soon witness the arrival of new GPS-based bus stops where screens would be put up to give commuters regular updates the services.

S K Rao, ASCI director-general delivered the keynote address while Ahmed Babu, special commissioner, GHMC, and Somarapu Satyanarayana, MLA were among those present at the event.

Source:Magic Bricks

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under About, Articles, Smart City

‘US companies keen to collaborate on infra projects’

September 29, 2014

Noting that US companies have plenty to offer for India, USA’s minister counsellor for commercial affairs, John McCaslin, said that a core group of 30 US companies have expertise in IT-enabled services and data analytics, which are crucial elements for developing smart cities.

Participating in a session on ‘Doing business with USA’ organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in the city on Thursday, McCaslin said that

USA wants to work with any state government that is keen on taking up infrastructure projects.

Meanwhile, USA consular chief-visas, Sutton Meagher said that getting visas is easier than most people think, especially when it comes to B1/B2 visas for travel to USA. She said that visa applicants can get their visas in less than a week following interviews by the concerned authorities.

While noting that an online application makes life easy for applicants, she urged people attending interviews for the visa to be honest. She said that even translators are available during the visa interview process if applicants have difficulty in communicating in English.

Source:Times Of India

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under About, Smart City

Better planning, designing must for smart cities

September 29, 2014

Smart cities are not just smart in providing services but the very basics of planning, designing and construction should also conform to the standards. Keeping this in mind an awareness programme was organized by Geospatial Media and Communications, dedicated to advocating and promoting judicious usage of geospatial technologies in building smart cities, here on Wednesday.

The Delhi-based company has started a series of presentations in tier-II cities, identified to be developed as smart cities in near future and Ranchi was the fourth in the series following Guwahati, Dehradun and Bhubaneswar. Geospatial media director (Asia Pacific) Prashant Joshi said they have been advocating smart planning, designing, building and maintenance for which modern tools are used right from the stage of mapping to enhance concept and make the projects cost effective.

“The plans, three-dimensional maps are drawn with the help of digital data obtained through GIS and building information management, chances of error are minimized,” he said.

Ranchi mayor Asha Lakra appreciated the presentations and, along with a team of ward councilors, agreed to use best-available technologies while making the plan for Ranchi as a smart city. “We would like to make Ranchi the smartest city in the region and for that purpose we need to know the modern technologies available globally,” she said. Attending the presentation, principal secretary of the department of information and technology, N N
Sinha, agreed that technology effectively cuts down on wastage and proper planning could speed up work execution.

“As spatial data forms the very foundation of all planned human activities, technologies such as GIS, GPS, satellite data, surveying, mapping, laser scanning, photgrammetry, and others, are significantly proving to be critical as decision support tools that can decisively help in planning and informed decision making in these initiations,” Joshi said. Citing examples of some of the projects like Lvasa and airports being built in the country he said all such construction are aided by 3D mapping based on spatial data.

Experts from Mecon and Coal India Limited, which have been widely using spatial data in engineering designs and mining, shared their experiences of incorporation of modern technology and tools in project execution.

Technologies such as GIS, GPS, satellite data, surveying, mapping and laser scanning are proving to be as critical as support tools that help in planning and decision making while designing smart cities.

Source:Times of India

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under About, Smart City

Toll charges at five entry points to city will go up from Oct 1

September 29, 2014

From October 1, toll charges at the five entry points of Mumbai, where private firm Mumbai Entry Point Ltd (MEPL) has recovered nearly 40 per cent of its total investment within the first three years, are set to increase for all categories of vehicles as per a schedule decided earlier.

While toll charges for cars and light commercial vehicles will increase by Rs 5 to Rs 35 and Rs 45 respectively, toll rates for trucks and buses, and multi-axle vehicles will jump to Rs 90 and Rs 115 from the existing Rs 75 and Rs 95 respectively.

This is the first increase in toll rates at the five entry points of Mumbai ever since MEPL commenced toll collection as part of the securitised contract in November 2010. These charges will remain constant for three years, after which there will be another revision.

Data obtained under the Right to Information (RTI) Act shows that from November 19, 2010 when MEPL started toll collection, till February 2014, the company has earned a revenue of Rs 863 crore at the five entry points of Mumbai. During the same period, nearly 18.5 crore vehicles have passed through the five entry points of Vashi on the Sion-Panvel Highway, Mulund on the Eastern Express Highway, Dahisar on the Western Express Highway, Airoli and the Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg.

MEPL had secured the toll collection contract for a period of 16 years by paying a securitisation fee of Rs 2,100 crore. In exchange, the firm has to maintain 27 flyovers and allied structures in Mumbai.

The state government has given the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) the right to collect toll till November 2027, while MEPL’s concession period of 16 years is scheduled to end in October 2026.

An official from MSRDC, which has given the toll collection contract to MEPL, said, “The MSRDC will, at the end of 2015, conduct a review of the traffic flow, increase in the number of vehicles, total revenue earned, and revenue expected till the end of the contract as against the expected cash flow figures that MEPL had submitted to us. If there is any possibility of incremental revenue, then as per contract, it will be shared equally between MSRDC and MEPL.”

Source:Indian Express

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under About, Toll Pricing

GIFT City project gets Centre’s nod

September 29, 2014

The Centre has given a formal approval to sponsor the ambitious Rs 78,000-crore Gujarat International Finance Tech-City (GIFT) project which is being developed as the country’s first smart city near Gandhinagar.

This approval will now make the GIFT project eligible for funding from central government and will also help in faster clearances, said a senior official associated with the project.

“Earlier, we didn’t have a forum. We used to face a lot of difficulties in getting the necessary funds and clearances from the Centre. But now the Centre has approved to sponsor the project. This means that the government will be considering GIFT as a smart city, and the project will qualify for funding under different government schemes,” said R K Jha, director of Gujarat International Finance Tec-City Company Ltd, which is a joint venture between state-run Gujarat Urban Development Company Ltd (GUDCL) and a private firm Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS)

However, Jha did not disclose the quantum of funds that the company was eyeing from the Centre for the project which has already achieved financial closure of Rs 1,157 crore for the Phase-I on May 20, 2014. The total estimated cost of Phase-I of the project is Rs 1,818 crore.

“The Centre will also form a coordination committee which will be iron out the bottlenecks facing the project. This committee which will be formed in the next one month will possibly be headed by secretary of Union Ministry of Urban Development,” he told The Indian Express.

“This committee is expected to be on the lines of an existing empowered committee formed by the Gujarat government to sort out issues related to the project at the state-level,” Jha added.

The project is facing a number of bottlenecks including the framing of rules required for a International Financial Services Centre (IFSC). The project which was one of the pet projects of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was conceptualised as a cheaper but world-class alternative to similar financial service centres in Mumbai, London and Tokyo.

GIFT is also seeking height clearances of 300 meters to build taller structures within the . “Currently we are closer to the international airport and are being allowed to build structures with 30 floors (or 120 meters). We have been asking the Centre for a clearance of 300 meters,” Jha added.

Source:indianexpress

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under About, Government (Govt), Smart City

IEEMA applauds GOI’s ambitious project on smart city development

September 29, 2014

Indian Electrical and Electronics Manufacturers’ Association in its 67th AGM and Annual Convention in Mumbai applauded the vision of Government of India’s ambitious and bold project on 100 Smart Cities. The scale of this project transcends the ‘Golden Quadrilateral’ and ‘Connecting the Rivers’ projects, said IEEMA.

On the occasion, Venkaiah Naidu, Union minister of urban development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Parliamentary Affairs said “IEEMA is preparing to have two shows in January 2015 on up to 11 KV and intelligent usage of electricity. I would like to see what strength Indian industry has to be able to partner and bring value to 100 Smart Cities Project,” he said.

As per IEEMA, the ’100 Smart Cities Project’ will entail a huge opportunity for the entire industry across —urban development, power, rural infrastructure development, municipality, hospitals, education opportunities and the entire ecosystem of allied industries. “It is a given that the CEOs of the industry have a big role to play, in planning and deciding the way forward to respond to this project which will unravel immense opportunities of growth in the coming few years”, said IEEMA.

Vishnu Agarwal, Founder and CMD of Technical Associates Ltd, a Lucknow based organization has been appointed as the 55th president of IEEMA. Agarwal in his address said that IEEMA is looking ahead to partner with the Government on the Smart Cities project which will go a long way to enhancing quality of urban life, and also the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana will provide a huge impetus to strengthen the transmission and distribution infrastructure in rural areas.

At present, India has already lost about 35percent market share due to import of sub quality Chinese electrical equipment. “Significant under-utilisation of installed domestic capacity has resulted in loss of employment of qualified Indian engineers, technicians, workers, etc. There is a dire need of presenting a roadmap and addressing the balance of trade which is grossly tilted currently in China’s favour”, said the association.

IEEMA is the first ISO certified industry association in India with 800 member organisations encompassing the complete value chain in power generation, transmission and distribution equipment. IEEMA members have contributed to more than 90 percent of the power equipment installed in India. The Indian electrical equipment industry size in 2012-13 was in excess of USD 24 billion, with exports of USD 5 billion.

Source:Times of India

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under About, Smart City

Bangalore: an access-controlled city

September 29, 2014

Paying a heavy toll to exit, enter or commute within the IT city seems to be the norm. Toll plazas virtually control access roads into the city and in an ever-expanding capital, even a ride from your home to office could burn a hole in your pocket.

Mysore Road – one of the few last surviving un-tolled roads leading out of the city – will also be tolled soon as it is being converted into a six-lane national highway. The project, estimated to cost Rs. 3,000 crore, is being taken up under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) model.

Proposals to take up the development of Kanakapura Road and Doddaballapur Road, two other entry-exit routes of the city, under the BOT model, is pending and the day it materialises, Magadi Road will be the only road without toll booths.

All major entry-exit routes of the city, that include National Highway 7 (Bellary Road, which leads to the International Airport), National Highway 4 (Tumkur Road), Hosur Road, and Old Madras Road, are tolled. Add to this is the peripheral ring road built by Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises (NICE), where commuters are tolled at seven locations.

The highest toll is being collected on the elevated expressway on Hosur Road, where a single one-way journey for a car costs Rs. 45 for a tollable road of 9.2 km, with a toll rate of Rs. 4.86 per kilometre, followed by Sadahalli gate on National Highway 7 with a toll rate of Rs. 3.4 per kilometre. The toll rates were recently revised amidst virulent protests. NICE Road is the only road that tolls two-wheelers as well.

This has meant that for those moving into the city’s outskirts a separate kitty needs to be reserved for paying tolls, which could even be thousands of rupees in a month, depending on the distance.

Urban experts argue that all entry and exit points of the city being access controlled will have a negative effect“The city with its large migrant population across the socio-economic spectrum of the society, would do better to not send out an elitist message,” said V. Ravichander, an urban expert.

Trade and commerce are adversely affected by the phenomenon, said S. Sampath Raman, president, Federation of Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He said the cost of labour and of transporting materials has shot up considerably in the last few years.

Farmer leader Kodihalli Chandrashekar said that though they had been demanding that vehicles ferrying farm produce be excused from tolls, it had not materialised. Even farmers who gave up land for these roads were suffering. He said that this may lead to inflation in vegetable and fruit prices in the city.

Source:The Hindu

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under About, Toll Plaza