Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu said this during discussions with a Swedish delegation, led by Anna Johansson, Sweden's Minister for Infrastructure.
During the deliberations, Naidu gave an overview of the policy framework and other initiatives of the Ministry. He said the Urban development Ministry is undertaking three important projects at the moment.
"One is Smart City Project, second is rejuvenation of 500 cities with more than 1 lakh population and the third is developing heritage cities," he said.
Naidu also touched upon the massive 'Housing for All' scheme which targets construction of houses for all by 2022.
The minister threw light on Swachh Bharat Mission and National Urban Renewal Mission (NURM) through which skill development training is being imparted to the urban youth.
He also highlighted his ministry's priorities for enhancing public transportation system using Metro Rail and modern buses.
A Memorandum of Understanding between India and Sweden for cooperation in the field of sustainable urban development is ready for signing. The objective of the MoU is to promote cooperation between the participants in the field of sustainable urban development on the basis of reciprocity and mutual benefit, taking into account the applicable laws and legal provisions in each country.
The priority areas of cooperation envisaged in the proposed MoU include dialogue and interaction between the two countries on global sustainable urban development issues and exchange of knowledge, institutional cooperation including capacity building research and development and commercial relations, regarding sustainable urban development.
Speaking on the occasion, Johansson said that government of Sweden is willing to cooperate in the Smart City Project and India's sustainable urban development initiatives. Both the sides agreed to have pre-group meeting to discuss the modalities before a formal Joint Working Group is formed.
Naidu suggested possible areas of cooperation such as sustainable and integrated urban planning and land use, integrated solid waste management, sustainable transport systems, water and sanitation management, SmartCity and ICT applications, twinning of cities, transfer of green technologies, etc. His Swedish counterpart agreed to the suggestions and said that the government of Sweden is willing to cooperate in these areas.