Smart Cities: For the People, By the People!
June 25, 2015 will be marked as an important day in the history of Indian development. Inching a step forward for transforming urban infrastructure, Prime Minister Narendra Modi formally unveiled three mega projects- Smart City , Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and Housing for All. In addition to bringing a change in the skyline of several cities, the projects are also expected to bridge the infra-gap to make Indian cities more liveable.
It is empowering to see that the decision to make cities smart will be taken by the people of the city and the local administration. This clearly indicates that there will be lot of inclusive planning. Further, the ‘city challenge competition’ is a great approach as lot of counter magnets will be formed. Thus, instead of lopsided growth, the nation will see a holistic growth, which will surely have a far-reaching impact on the overall economic development of the country.
In the backdrop of this important development, CommonFloor spoke to the real estate fraternity to know their views.
Welcoming the move, Amit Modi, Vice President CREDAI Western UP and Whole Time Director, ABA CORP said, ‘We believe that for the first time the grants being allocated for these initiatives over a period of the next 5 years, seem to be realistic and practicle, considering the size and scale that has to be achieved which indeed is a welcome departure from the fact that the earlier amounts being announced for national infrastructure development initiatives were largely insufficient.’
Reiterating his views, Deepak Kapoor, President CREDAI Western U.P. said, “Approval to the smart cities and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) will bring in a lot of development to the country. The idea of smart cities is for the greater development of the country and will help us be counted as among the developed nations.”
While industry experts clearly seems to welcome the move, clarity on certain aspects is what they are looking for now. Prashant Tiwari, Chairman, Prateek Group opined, “We are waiting for the clear guidelines behind this idea and expect that once the concept is clear to everyone the work will pick up pace. As it is based on PPP model, it is expected to get good result provided all the parties involved show good intent. And we believe because of the intensity of this programme, it will definitely turn out to be a good one for people, for economy and for country in general.”
Echoing similar views, R.K Arora, Chairman, Supertech said, “It’s a welcome opportunity for the private companies to work in partnership with government under PPP model to attain government aim of Housing for All by 2022. Constructing two crore houses is a welcoming challenge for developer community as the prime importance is to overcome the shortage of houses for the common man.’’
Having said all this, Amit Modi has made a very crucial point. He is of the opinion that ‘’once these initiatives are actually implemented on ground, they will also have an economic multiplier effect on the nation’s economy as a whole, since such huge infrastructure development initiatives will require a massive increase in production and manufacturing output of the country, and as a result also create humongous employment opportunities not just in the infrastructure sector, but also in manufacturing sector.’’
Undoubtedly, there is a lot to be done for achieving the vision of the Prime Minister, hence while CommonFloor welcomes these initiatives, we would like to reiterate that ‘Execution on ground is the key’.
All said and done, the nation is surely progressing. With words turning into actions, we hope for ‘acche din’ ahead.
