NEW DELHI: NEC Technologies India Private Limited (NECTI) today announced the launch of a FIWARE-based smart cities platform in India.

The new product from NECTI is based on FIWARE Foundation’s open source platform, which supports Next Generation Service Interfaces, a globally accepted open standard interface for data management. This makes the new platform ideal for smooth integration with smart city projects that accumulate and process data collected from a wide range of smart city applications.

As the first customer of the new product, DMICDC Logistics Data Services (DLDS) has implemented this platform and integrated it with their existing Logistics Data Bank system, which provides tracking services of EXIM containers across India. The implementation of NECTI’s FIWARE-based platform allowed DLDS to seamlessly collect real-time data from a large number of IoT devices (such as RFID readers for container tracking) within its service area.

“I congratulate NEC Technologies India on achieving another milestone in their continued commitment towards enabling solutions over FIWARE,” said Mr. Ulrich Ahle, CEO of FIWARE Foundation.

“DLDS is always looking to leverage advanced technologies to create future-ready platforms. With the introduction of FIWARE, DLDS’s Logistic Data Bank system is ready to scale its operations and support a broad range of smart technologies beyond RFID,” said Mr. Abhishek Chaudhary, Director, DLDS.

“By innovating and implementing this FIWARE-based smart cities platform, we are able to take another huge step in empowering industries with world class technologies and solutions,” said Mr. Piyush Sinha, Deputy Managing Director, NECTI. “I firmly believe the implementation of the new platform will help DLDS further enhance the Indian logistics industry by enabling faster and more informed decision making.”

NEC is a platinum member of the FIWARE Foundation. As a member of the board and the technical steering committee of the FIWARE Foundation, NEC has contributed to development, standardization and promotion of FIWARE technology.

In April 2018, NECTI announced the launch of a FIWARE Lab node in India in order to encourage application developers, solution providers, government bodies and academia to experiment and innovate with FIWARE-based solutions for smart cities.

NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Housing & Affairs has embarked upon one of the most ambitious programmes undertaken in the world for renaissance for rejuvenating and transforming Indian cities through several initiatives including infusion of more than Rs. 6,85,758 crore for ensuring citizen friendly urban areas.

The transformation has been undertaken by way of implementing key urban reforms, projects for urban rejuvenation, construction of public and household toilets and solid waste management under the Swachh Bharat Mission, initiation and implementation of more than 5000 Smart City projects worth Rs.2,05,018 crore under the Smart City Mission, sanctioning of more than 65 lakh houses for construction under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana in urban areas, provision of water, sewerage and sanitation under the Mission AMRUT by sanctioning projects worth Rs.77,640 crore, augmenting the urban transport by way of new metro lines, embarking on an ambitious target for skill development of urban youth for gainful employment under DAY-NULM and approving implementation of city HRIDAY plans for 12 cities.

The Ministry is also vigorously pursuing reforms in the real estate sector for the benefit of homebuyers by ensuring implementation of RERA in all parts of the country.

SMART CITY MISSION

Under the SCM, 100 Smart Cities have been selected in 4 Rounds based on All India Competition. All 100 cities have incorporated Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs).

Since the launch of the mission 5,151 projects identified by the cities worth more than Rs. 2 lakh crore are in various stages of implementation in the 100 cities. 534 projects worth Rs. 10,116 crore have been completed, implementation has commenced for 1,177 projects with a cost of Rs. 43,493 crore and tendering has started for 677 projects with a cost of Rs. 38,207 crore. The progress with respect to implementation of projects pertaining to Smart Solutions, Smart Roads, Smart Water, Solar Rooftops, and Visible & Impactful is given below:

·For Smart Command & Control Centres projects worth Rs. 1,558 crore in 11 cities have been completed; projects worth Rs. 3,049 crore in 29 cities are under progress; further tenders have been issued for projects worth Rs. 2,730 crore in 21 cities.

·For Smart Roads projects worth Rs. 228 crore in 4 cities have been completed; projects worth Rs. 3,819 crore in 34 cities are under progress; further tenders have been issued for projects worth Rs. 2,069 crore in 10 cities.

·For Smart Water projects worth Rs. 902 crore in 18 cities have been completed; projects worth Rs. 5,961 crore in 35 cities are under progress; further tenders have been issued for projects worth Rs. 921 crore in 17 cities.

·For Solar projects worth Rs. 58 crore in 8 cities have been completed; projects worth Rs. 828 crore in 42 cities are under progress; further tenders have been issued for projects worth Rs. 300 crore in 9 cities.

·For Visible and impactful projects, worth Rs. 179 crore in 16 cities have been completed; projects worth Rs. 3,701 crore in 32 cities are under progress; further tenders have been issued for projects worth Rs. 2,828 crore in 20 cities.

Value Capture Finance (VCF) Policy Framework was released by the Ministry on 28th February 2017. It is an important tool for generating much needed additional finances required by the States / Cities for funding the infrastructural investments. So far 17 States have already engaged professional firms for preparing the VCF framework. This is expected to help the States generate additional revenue.

Other significant initiatives under the Smart Cities Mission

· The “Ease of Living” Index is an initiative of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) to help cities assess their liveability vis-à-vis global and national benchmarks and encourage cities to move towards an ‘outcome-based’ approach to urban planning and management. It was decided in June 2017 to rank 116 cities based on the liveability parameters.

The implementation of the assessment commenced formally on 19 January, 2018. The Ministry has launched the outcome/rankings of 111 cities on the Ease of Living index on 13 August, 2018. The framework covers all the critical pillars of urban development (Physical, Institutional, Social and Economic) and uses 78 indicators across 15 categories (governance, identity and culture, education, health, safety and security, economy, affordable housing, land use planning, public open spaces, transportation and mobility, assured water supply, waste-water management, solid waste management, power, and quality of environment).

Indian Smart City Fellowship and Indian Smart City Internship programs were launched on 9 July 2018. More than 3000 applications were received for Fellowship. The first batch of 30 young graduates/post graduates and PhDs in the fields of Urban Planning, Urban Design, Engineering, Information and Technology, Urban Mobility, Finance, Social Sector and Environmental issues has been selected by the Ministry in November 2018.

An all-India Challenge named CITIIS (Cities Investments to Innovate Integrate and Sustain) was launched on July 9, 2018 in partnership with Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and European Union. A Loan of EUR 100 million will be extended by Agence Française de Développement (AFD), which shall be given as a grant to Smart Cities for implementation of 15 innovative projects selected through the All-India Challenge.

The projects would be in four sectors- sustainable mobility, public open spaces, urban governance & ICT and social and organizational innovation in low-income settlements. Technical support with global expertise will be provided for preparation and implementation of selected demonstrative projects. A preparatory Workshop on CITIIS was held with international experts in September 2018. Proposals submitted by cities are under evaluation.

Smart Cities Digital Payments Awards 2018 were launched on 9 July, 2018. The objective of the awards is to guide, motivate, recognize and reward the Smart Cities for promoting digital payments and carrying out innovative payment initiatives. 65 cities have participated in Stage II of the questionnaire. The submissions are under evaluation. Results will be declared shortly.

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi has inaugurated Uttarakhand’s first investors summit on Sunday, saying India is the ideal investment destination in the world today with major social and economic changes sweeping the country.

Addressing the country’s top business leaders and industrial houses at ‘Destination Uttarakhand: Investors Summit 2018’, Modi said the country was passing through an era of unprecedented social and economic changes at present and expressed confidence that in the coming decades India will become the engine of world economic growth.

“Fiscal deficit has come down, the rate of inflation has come down. The middle class is growing and the country is full of demographic dividend.

“In the past 4 years, the state and central governments together have taken over 10,000 measures, which have helped the country improve its position in the ease of doing business rankings by 42 points,” Modi said, describing the current times as the best for investors in the country.

GST is the biggest tax reform in the country post independence which has turned the country into a single market, he said.

Highlighting rapid growth in the infrastructure sector, the prime minister said 10,000 km highways have been built, which is double in comparison with what was done by earlier governments.

The aviation sector is growing at a record speed with 100 new airports and helipads coming up across the country. Type II and Type III cities are getting air connectivity.

With the high speed rail projects and metro lines in various cities and the Centre’s policy of housing for all, power for all, fuel for all and banking for all, scenario of an ideal investment destination becomes complete, Modi said.

“My message to investors is make in India but not just for Indians but for the whole world,” he said.

The prime minister said schemes like Ayushman Bharat Yojana will provide health insurance coverage to a huge population and it will also open up huge opportunities for investors in the health sector.

Describing Uttarakhand as a shining jewel in the crown of emerging new India, Modi extended an invitation to top industrial houses to invest in the state, which has taken huge strides in its development since its creation.

When former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee decided to create Uttarakhand, the challenges were big but now the scenario has changed, with major steps taken in terms of infrastructure building and connectivity.

“The state government’s new policy on tourism, which gives it the status of an industry, is going to give a big advantage to investors coming to the state. The new policies framed by the state government like support subsidy for investors in the MSME sector will be another advantage,” he said.

With its unique blend of nature-adventure-culture and yoga, Uttarakhand has enough to stimulate the interest of investors, he said, adding that it has the potential to emerge as the country’s “Spiritual Eco Zone” (SEZ).

Noting that the states had great potential, Modi said if India is able to channelise its strength nothing can stop it from growing expeditiously.

Emphasising that the strengths of each of India’s states surpass those of many European countries, Modi said if every state recognises its strengths and develops accordingly nothing can stop the country from growing by leaps and bounds.

Citing his own experience after he took over as the chief minister of Gujarat for the first time, he said journalists decided to grill him as he was new in the office and asked him what model he had in mind for the development of the state.

“I said, I will follow the model of South Korea. They were puzzled to hear my answer because they had little idea about South Korea. But, I explained to them how that model could work for Gujarat as it had a similar size of population and a similar geography,” Modi said.

The prime minister asked the investors to expedite their projects in the state where they have an industry friendly government.

The prime minister also said that Uttarakhand has great potential in organic farming and asked investors to invest in the sector apart from food processing, agriculture and agri-business, which could help double the income of farmers.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat thanked the prime minister for his constant support and guidance without which organising the summit like this would not have been possible. Addressing investors the chief minister said that apart from the advantages like cheap availability of power and good law & order scenario, the coming years will give investors a lot of benefits with rapid progress in the chardham, the all weather road project and other infrastructure projects coming up.

The Rishikesh-Karnaprayag and the Roorkee-Deoband rail links, on which work is in progress, will further reduce the distance between Dehradun and the national capital, Rawat said.

He said the investors had shown unusual enthusiasm to invest in the state.

“With its remotest parts connected with roads and investors coming to the state, I am confident that development will now reach every doorstep even in its remotest parts as envisioned by people who fought for a separate Uttarakhand,” the chief minister said.

Leading companies that spoke of their plans to invest in the state include Adani group, Mahindra group, JSW, Amul and Patanjali.

Japan, the Czech Republic and Singapore also sent their representatives for the summit.

Source: Press Trust of India