Smart Cities in India

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has made the plans for his ambitious program aimed at setting up 100 urban settlements nationwide. Also, called Smart Cities, Modi's vision for advanced cities that benefits from the latest technology has finally begun to take shape with the Ministry of Urban Development asking 22 states where the program will be implemented to send detailed project reports so a final blueprint can be outlined. Sources say the government plans to set up seven smart cities each in Gujarat, Kerala, Rajasthan and Karnataka. Modi's constituency Varanasi, they added, is among the six cities identified in Uttar Pradesh.

A senior ministry official said the government has set 2019 as the deadline to deliver the first three smart cities, all of which will be built as part of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC). These smart cities are Dholera, Shendra-Bidkin and Global City. Overall, seven smart cities will be set up between Delhi and Mumbai under the DMIC project, which is being built in partnership with the government of Japan.

There are at least three more industrial corridors along which new cities are being built: Amritsar-Kolkata, Bangalore-Chennai and Chennai-Visakhapatnam. Besides, states have been asked to identify cities along the Amritsar-Kolkata corridor. A master plan is ready for three cities - Punderi, Krishnapatnam and Tumkur - along the Bangalore-Chennai corridor, was announced by Finance Minister Jaitley in his budget. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) had just concluded a feasibility study for cities along Chennai-Vizag corridor. The Centre will also invite bids for another project, Shendra-Bidkin industrial zone in Maharashtra, by mid-2015.

Much like in the DMIC, the official said foreign assistance would be crucial to the implementation of the project. Several countries, including Singapore, Germany, the UK, US and South Korea have expressed interest in these projects.

What are smart cities? Just consider these scenarios: an office that is at a walking distance from home; a completely Wi-Fi enabled city; a smart card for cashless transactions that is also capable of facial recognition and acts as a key to enter your building with advanced security systems. All this with a promise of 30% savings on electricity and water costs. These features may appear to be somewhat unrealistic at least at present time, but are likely to become a reality in India in less than 2-3 decades, as the smart city concept takes hold.

A 'smart city' is an urban region that is highly advanced in terms of overall infrastructure, real estate, communications and market viability. It is a city where information technology is the principal infrastructure and the basis for providing essential services to residents.

Why is it required? Across the world, the stride of migration from rural to urban areas is increasing. By 2050, about 70 per cent of the population will be living in cities, and India is no exception. It will need about 500 new cities to accommodate the influx.

Interestingly, urbanization in India has for the longest time been viewed as a by-product of failed regional planning. Though it is inevitable, and will only change when the benefits of urbanization overtake the costs involved, it is an opportunity for achieving faster growth. The potential for smart cities in India is enormous—something that makes Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 100 smart cities goal an achievable one. “India’s urban population will reach 590 million by 2030, living in at least 60 cities with a population of more than one million, requiring an investment of $1.2 trillion by the government for their development,” Dharia says.

The concept of smart cities originated at the time when the entire world was facing one of the worst economic crises. In 2008, IBM began work on a 'smarter cities' concept as part of its Smarter Planet initiative. By the beginning of 2009, the concept had captivated the imagination of various nations across the globe.

Countries like South Korea, UAE and China began to invest heavily into their research and formation. Today, a number of excellent precedents exist that India can emulate, such as those in Vienna, , Amsterdam, Cairo, Lyon, Seoul, Verona etc. Smart cities can be horizontal or vertical, depending on the available space. Singapore is an example of a vertical smart city, while Masdar in  Abu Dhabi is a horizontal smart city.

The cities with ongoing or proposed smart cities include Kochi in Kerala, Ahmedabad in Gujarat, Aurangabad in Maharashtra, Manesar in Delhi NCR, Khushkera in Rajasthan, Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, Ponneri in Tamil Nadu and Tumkur in Karnataka. Many of these cities will include special economic zones with regulations and tax structures to make it attractive for foreign investment.

The concept is not without challenges, especially in India. For instance, the success of such a city depends on residents, entrepreneurs and visitors becoming actively involved in energy saving and implementation of new technologies. Also, there is the time factor — such cities can potentially take anything between 20 and 30 years to build.

A quick Google search for India’s “first smart city” produces more than 70,000 results, and many of them lead to different places. Let us look at a case analysis of a smart city project near Mumbai. The first-of-its-kind partially completed smart city project in Mumbai, which is expected to be completed in 2025, is Palava city by the Lodha Group. It will span 4,000 acres, and cost Rs.14, 000 crore. For Palava, the Lodha Group has an agreement with Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co. Ltd for 24-hour electricity supply; also solar panels will power street lights. It has a tie-up with General Electric Co. (GE) for 100% water recycling, and billing to ensure transparency. It will run a huge force of CNG powered buses within Palava city and connect people to nearby areas. The Lodha World School will offer all established Indian and international syllabi. And the Lodha Group is in talks with hospitals as well as several commercial establishments and multi-brand retail giants to set up shop in Palava. It has the potential to create 350,000 jobs by 2025.

The Lodha Group has also set up Palava City Management Association with citizens as members to deal with day-to-day issues, as well as a 311 grievance helpline number and 911 emergency helpline number for citizens, and a mobile app. Palava’s smart technology also extends to 500 surveillance cameras that capture real-time data and in future will support facial recognition for entry and have panic alarms every 200 meters. A smart card given to all Palava citizens will allow cashless transactions at retail centers, access to bus service, public Wi-Fi within Palava’s premises, building and commercial point’s entry, and information access from the Palava experience center.”

These are yet to be completed. All of them are just projections. But, these are just expectations for the future smart cities in India. Hope that these models are extended not only in that country, but throughout the world.