eGovWatch: Germany to partner India in developing 3 smart cities

Germany has agreed to partner with India in developing three smart cities and a six-member joint committee has been set up in this regard to evolve the way forward including identification of those cities in three months.

This was decided at a meeting between Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu and the German Minister of Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety Barbara Hendricks.

After discussion on smart cities initiative of the government, Hendricks said the Government of Federal Republic of Germany was keen to be associated with it.

It was agreed that Germany will support in development of three smart cities in India, a release said.

A six-member joint committee was set up to evolve in three months a way forward including identification of three cities to be taken for making them smart, projects to be taken up with German assistance.

The committee will have two representatives of the Urban Development Ministry, one from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, and three from Germany.

Hendricks has invited a delegation from India for participation in Urban Development Conference in Germany to be held in April this year.

Both the sides discussed urban governance structures in the two countries and the similarities including three tier mechanism.

Naidu thanked the German Minister and Germany’s Ambassador to India for coming forward to be associated with smart cities development in the country.

Meanwhile, India and the US have also agreed on formulating action plans for development of smart cities in Allahabad, Ajmer and Visakhapatnam in pursuance of the MoUs signed on January 25.