The Union Cabinet has given its ex post-facto approval to the MoU between India and Singapore on cooperation in the field of urban planning and development. Signed on May 31, 2018, the objective of the MoU is to facilitate government agencies in the Centre and states, including Municipal Bodies, to readily tap into the expertise of Singapore agencies in the areas of urban development and management and other areas, and thus help in urban rejuvenation, mission. This will also facilitate to build capacities in NITI Aayog and equip the officials with skills related to evidence based policy writing, evaluation etc and help NITI Aayog to play the newly assigned role of a think-tank in a more effective manner.
Under this MoU, capacity building programme in the field of planning, focusing on areas of urban planning, water and waste water management, solid waste management, Intelligent Transport System and public financing (public-private partnerships) would be undertaken.
This MoU would lead to dissemination of knowledge of best practices, build capacities and provide hand holding support to various government agencies at the state and central levels in the areas of urban planning, water and waste water management, solid waste management, Intelligent Transport System and public financing.
Officials from the central government, state governments and urban local bodies (ULBs) would directly benefit by enhancing their knowledge base which would ultimately get manifested in the improvement in the urban civic amenities.
