Chandigarh may be the first Indian smart city

Several countries like Japan, Germany, Sweden, Singapore, Israel, UK, US, Hong Kong and the Netherlands besides MNCs have shown interest in building smart cities in India.

Chandigarh could be the first Indian smart city as the government moves to create many hi-tech cities in the country.

Referring to the National Democratic Alliance's proposal to set up 100 smart cities in the country, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, "The first Indian smart city to be created probably could be Chandigarh."

Elaborating on his point, he said Gandhinagar is an example of a smart city and towns like Noida and New Raipur are attracting foreign investments.

"Noida and Greater Noida on the outskirts of Delhi, New Raipur in Chhattisgarh . . . these are recent experiments we have made and good experiments we have made. Foreign capital is available to them (since) we have opened up the sector," the minister said on the sidelines of the Vibrant Gujarat Summit in Gandhinagar.

Smart cities would be built in a way so that they have uninterrupted power, water, proper sanitation, efficient management of solid waste, decongestion of roads, last mile connectivity and effective use of ICT.

Several countries like Japan, Germany, Sweden, Singapore, Israel, UK, US, Hong Kong and the Netherlands besides MNCs have shown interest in building smart cities in India.

Image: Dancers perform during the Republic Day celebrations in the northern Indian city of Chandigarh January 26, 2011. India celebrated its 62nd Republic Day on Wednesday. Photograph: Ajay Verma/Reuters