దీపావళి పండుగ

భారతీయ సంస్కృతికి ప్రతిబింబంగా వెలుగొందేవి భారతీయ పండుగలు. వాటిలో ఆనంద ఉత్సాహాలతో జాతి, కుల, మత, వర్గ విభేదాలను విస్మరించి సమైక్యంగా జరుపుకునే పండుగే దివ్య దీప్తుల దీపావళి. జగతిని జాగృతం చేసే చైతన్య దీప్తుల శోభావళి. నరకాసురుడనే రాక్షసుడిని సంహరించన మరుసటి రోజు అతడి పీడ వదిలిన ఆనందంలో ప్రజలు దీపావళి చేసుకుంటారని పురాణలు చెబుతున్నాయి. అలాగే లంకలోని రావణుడిని సంహరించి శ్రీరాముడు సతీసమేతంగా అయోధ్యకు తిరిగి వచ్చినపుడు కూడా ప్రజలు ఆనందోత్సవాల మధ్య దీపావళిని జరుపుకున్నారని రామాయణం చెపుతోంది. చీకటిని త్రోలుతూ వెలుగులు తెచ్చే పండుగగా, విజయానికి ప్రతీకగా దీపావళి పండుగను జరుపుకుంటారు. దీప మాళికల శోభతో వెలుగొందే గృహాంగణాలు, ఆనంద కోలాహలంతో వెల్లివిరిసే ఆబాల గోపాలం, నూతన వస్త్రాల రెపరెపలు, పిండివంటల ఘుమఘుమలు, బాణసంచా చప్పుళ్ళు, ఈ దివ్య దీపావళి సోయగాలు. ఈ పండుగ ప్రతియేటా ఆశ్వయుజ అమవ స్య రోజున వస్తుంది. దీపాల పండుగకు ముందు రోజు ఆశ్వయుజ బహుళ చతుర్థశి. దీన్ని నరక చతుర్థశిగా జరుపుకుంటారు.ఆశ్వయుజ బహుళ చతుర్దశి నరక చతుర్దశి గా ప్రసిద్ధి పొందింది. నరకాసురుడు నే రాక్షసుడు చెలరేగి సాధు జనాలను పీడిస్తూ దేవ, మర్త్య లోకాలలో సంక్షోభాన్ని కలిగిస్తుంటాడు. కృతయుగం లో హిరణ్యాక్షుని వధించిన వరాహస్వామి కి, భూదేవికి అసుర సంధ్యా సమయంలో జన్మిస్తాడు నరకుడు. అతడు లోక కంటకుడైనా మహావిష్ణువు వధించరాదని, తల్లియైన తన చేతిలోనే మరణించేలా వరం పొందుతుంది భూదేవి. మహావిష్ణువు ద్వాపరయుగంలో శ్రీకృష్ణ భగవానునిగా అవతరించినప్పుడు భూదేవి సత్యభామ గా జన్మిస్తుంది.
అప్పటికి నరకాసురుడు లోక కంటకుడై చేస్తున్న అధర్మకృత్యాలను అరికట్టడానికి సత్యభామా సమేతంగా తరలి వెళ్తాడు శ్రీకృష్ణుడు. వారి మధ్యజరిగిన భీకర సంగ్రామంలో భూదేవి అంశ అయిన సత్యభామ శరాఘాతాలకు మరణిస్తాడు నరకుడు.
తన పుత్రుని పేరైనా కలకాలం నిలిచి ఉండేలా చేయమని సత్యభామ ప్రార్థించడంతో ఆ రోజు నరక చతుర్థశిగా పిలువబడుతుందని వరం ప్రసాదిస్తాడు శ్రీకృష్ణుడు. నరకుని చెరనుండి సాధుజనులు, పదహారువేలమంది రాజకన్యలు విడిపించబడ్డారు, ధ్రర్మం సుప్రతిష్టమైంది.
నరకాసురుని పీడ విరగడైందన్న సంతోషంతో ఆ మరుసటి రోజు ప్రజలు సంబరాలు జరుపుకుంటారు. ఈ సంబరాలు జరుపుకునే రోజు అమవాస్య కావడంతో, చీకటిని పారద్రోలుతూ ప్రజల దీపాలతో తోరణాలు వెలిగించి, బాణాసంచా కాల్చి వేడుక చేసుకున్నారు. కాలక్రమంలో అదే దీపావళి పర్వదినంగా మారింది.

SMART CITY TIRUPATI

A smart city uses digital technologies or information and communication technologies (ICT) to enhance quality and performance of urban services, to reduce costs and resource consumption, and to engage more effectively and actively with its citizens. Sectors that have been developing smart city technology include

·        government services,

·        transport and traffic management,

·        energy,

·        health care,

·        water and waste.

Smart city applications are developed with the goal of improving the management of urban flows and allowing for real time responses to challenges.

A smart city may therefore be more prepared to respond to challenges than one with a simple 'transactional' relationship with its citizens. Other terms that have been used for similar concepts include

·        cyberville,

·        digital city

·        electronic communities

·        flexicity

·        information city

·        intelligent city

·        knowledge-based city,

·        MESH city

·        telecity,

·        teletopia

·        Ubiquitous city

Major technological, economic and environmental changes have generated interest in smart cities, including climate change, economic restructuring, the move to online retail and entertainment, ageing populations, and pressures on public finances.

The European Union (EU) has devoted constant efforts to devising a strategy for achieving 'smart' urban growth for its metropolitan city-regions. The EU has developed a range of programmers under ‘Europe’s Digital Agenda". In 2010, it highlighted its focus on strengthening innovation and investment in ICT services for the purpose of improving public services and quality of life.

Arup estimates that the global market for smart urban services will be $400 billion per annum by 2020. Examples of Smart City technologies and programs have been implemented in Southampton, Amsterdam ,Barcelona and Stockholm.

It has been suggested that a smart city also

·        community,

·        Business cluster,

·        urban agglomeration or region  use information technologies to:

Make more efficient use of physical infrastructure (roads, built environment and other physical assets) through artificial intelligence and data analytics to support a strong and healthy economic, social, cultural development.

Engage effectively with local people in local governance and decision by use of open innovation processes and e-participation, improving the collective intelligence of the city’s institutions through E-Governance, with emphasis placed on citizen participation and co-design.

Learn, adapt and innovate and thereby respond more effectively and promptly to changing circumstances by improving the intelligence of the city.

They evolve towards a strong integration of all dimensions of human intelligence, collective intelligence, and also artificial intelligence within the city. The intelligence of cities "resides in the increasingly effective combination of digital telecommunication networks (the nerves), ubiquitously embedded intelligence (the brains), sensors and tags (the sensory organs), and software (the knowledge and cognitive competence)

These forms of intelligence in smart cities have been demonstrated in three ways:

Bletchley Park often considered to be the first smart community.

·        Orchestration intelligence:Where cities establish institutions and community-based problem solving and collaborations, such as in Bletchley Park, where the Nazi Enigma cypher was decoded by a team led by Alan Turing. This has been referred to as the first example of a smart city or an intelligent community.

·        Empowerment intelligence:

Cities provide open platforms, experimental facilities and smart city infrastructure in order to cluster innovation in certain districts. These are seen in the Kista Science City in Stockholm and the Cyberport Zone in Hong Kong. Similar facilities have also been established in Melbourne.

           Hong Kong Cyberport 1 and Cyberport 2 Buildings

·        Instrumentation intelligence:

Where city infrastructure is made smart through real time data collection, with analysis and predictive modelling across city districts. There is much controversy surrounding this, particularly with regards to surveillance issues in smart cities. Examples of Instrumentation intelligence have been implemented in Amsterdam.

This is implemented through:

Ø A common IP infrastructure that is open to researchers to develop applications.

Ø Wireless meters and devices transmit information at the point in time.

Ø A number of homes being provided with smart energy meters to become aware of energy consumption and reduce energy usage

Ø Solar power garbage compactors, car recharging stations and energy saving lamps.

Some major fields of intelligent city activation are:

Innovation economy	Urban infrastructure	Governance
Innovation in industries, clusters, districts of a city	Transport	Administration services to the citizen
Knowledge workforce: Education and employment	Energy / Utilities	Participatory and direct democracy
Creation of knowledge-intensive companies	Protection of the environment / Safety	Services to the citizen: Quality of life

Hyderabad:                 

It is the financial capital of Andhra Pradesh(Southern India). With an estimated population of 7 million, the city is the biggest contributor to Andhra Pradesh’s GDP, state tax and excise revenues. Hyderabad is now the seat of many businesses including trade, transport, commerce, communication and IT. Current socio-economic trends suggest that – in order to successfully meet these challenges – the number of cities in India will have to increase drastically. (By way of comparison, China has over 160 cities with a population over one million whereas India has less than 40). To support these new cities as they strive to address the challenges of urban transport and mobility, water distribution, waste management, etc, India must develop a comprehensive, supportive policy framework for new urbanization that establishes key, guiding principles and identifies the enablers – like technology, financing and talent attraction – that will be crucial to the implementation of new, live-able and sustainable urban spaces.

Platforms and technologies:

The rise of new Internet technologies promoting cloud-based services, the Internet of Things (IoT), real-world user interfaces, use of smart phones and smart meters, networks of sensors and RFIDs, and more accurate communication based on the semantic web, open new ways to collective action and collaborative problem solving.

Online collaborative sensor data management platforms are on-line database services that allow sensor owners to register and connect their devices to feed data into an on-line database for storage and allow developers to connect to the database and build their own applications based on that data.

The city of Santander in Cantabria, northern Spain, has 20,000 sensors connecting buildings, infrastructure, transport, networks and utilities, offers a physical space for experimentation and validation of the IoT functions, such as interaction and management protocols, device technologies, and support services such as discovery, identity management and security In Santander, the sensors monitor the levels of pollution, noise, traffic and parking.

Electronic cards (known as smart cards) are another common platform in smart city contexts. These cards possess a unique encrypted identifier that allows the owner to log in to a range of government provided services (or e-services) without setting up multiple accounts. The single identifier allows governments to aggregate data about citizens and their preferences to improve the provision of services and to determine common interests of groups. This technology has been implemented in Southampton.

Commercialisation:

Large IT, telecommunication and energy management companies such as Cisco, Schneider Electric, IBM and Microsoft have developed new solutions and initiatives for intelligent cities as well. Cisco, launched the Global Intelligent Urbanization initiative to help cities around the world using the network as the fourth utility for integrated city management, better quality of life for citizens, and economic development. IBM announced its Smarter Cities  to stimulate economic growth and quality of life in cities and metropolitan areas with the activation of new approaches of thinking and acting in the urban ecosystem.

Flagship cases:

Major strategies and achievements related to the spatial intelligence of cities are listed in the Intelligent Community Forum awards from 1999 to 2010, in the cities of Suwon (South Korea), Stockholm (Sweden), Gangnam District of Seoul (South Korea), Waterloo, Ontario (Canada), Taipei (Taiwan), Mitaka (Japan), Glasgow (Scotland, UK), Calgary (Alberta, Canada), Seoul (South Korea), New York City (USA), LaGrange, Georgia (USA), Tehran (Iran) and Singapore, which were recognized for their efforts in developing broadband networks and e-services sustaining innovation ecosystems, growth, and inclusion

                     

                

•           Indian Economy

Every city has its own history, culture and identity. There is no doubt that we need

to nurture, preserve and renew th

e urban fabric with changing times. However,

there is also a need to build new cities. A city is an economy of agglomeration; it

provides various advantages and opportunities. That is why we all flock to the

cities in search of a better future. However, there would be limits beyond which

things would become very difficult to sustain. What was once a village grows into

a town, a city, a metropolis, a megapolis and then slowly begins to decay into a‘necropolis’.

India’s economy is expanding rapidly.

By 2030 it is expected to have grown by fivetimes, buoyed largely by the country’s urban centers. During the same period, the country’s lab our  force is expected to grow by 270 million workers, with urban jobs accounting for 70% of that growth.

Today, India is less than 30 per cent urban and the quality of life in its cities is

Chronically low. However, with 2/3rds of GDP already generated in India’s cities

and rural to urban migration patterns accelerating, 

The country faces a criticalchallenge: managing this rapid urbanization in a way that enhances the livabilityof India’s urban spaces.

1.2 Present Scenario of Important Cities of India

New Delhi:

New Delhi, or simply Delhi, the second largest metropolis of India, is

the national capital. It has the second highest GDP in the country.Located on the

banks of the Yamuna River, it is one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world.

Delhi is the proud home of many important government offices, most importantly,

the Parliament of India. In the recent years, Delhi has attracted many immigrants,

thus emerging as a cosmopolitan city. Today, it is a prominent political and

commercial center of India. The Delhi-Agra highway joins Delhi to the beautiful

city of Agra, which is a major tourist attraction. The key service industries of New

Delhi include Telecom, IT, Banking, Media, Hotels and Tourism.

Mumbai:

Capital city of the state of Maharashtra, Mumbai is the financial capital

of India. Housing around thirteen million people, it is the second most populous

city in the world. It is not only the city with the highest GDP but also ranks among

the world’s top ten trade centres. The city contributes 25% of industrial output

and 70% of capital transactions to India’s economy.

Mumbai houses the world-famous Hindi film and television industry, Bollywood.

Important financial institutions such as the Reserve Bank of India and the National

Stock Exchange of India are located in Mumbai. It houses the headquarters of

several multinational companies and has thus become an important commercial

and entertainment center of India. It houses some of the tallest skyscrapers in the

country

Pune:

Pune, the second largest city of Maharashtra, at a relatively shorter

distance from Mumbai(150 km), is also one of India's major cities. Pune is

renowned for its educational facilities. It is serving as a major industrial nucleus.

and Tata Motors. It has the presence of software industries like Rajiv Gandhi IT

Park, Tech Mahindra, WIPRO, MIDC Software Technology Park etc. Some of the

major software companies of India as Infosys, TCS, Neilsoft etc. have a key

presence in this city.

Chennai:

Located on the Coromandel Coast of Bay of Bengal, this capital city of

Tamil Nadu is the home of around 8 million people. Its economy is based on the

automobile, hardware manufacturing, healthcare and the IT industry.

Approximately 40% of the automobile industries are based in Chennai and hence it

is also known as the Automobile Capital of India. Chennai hosts an international

airport, two major ports and five national highways stretching to other parts of the

India. Its contribution to India's exports of automotive products has conferred

upon Chennai, the title, 'Detroit of India'.

Kolkata:

Kolkata is the capital of West Bengal and one of the very important cities

in India and has a population of about 5 million. It is the major business,

commercial and financial hub of eastern India and also of the north eastern states.

It has been a center of education, industry and culture. However, it has undergone

economic stagnation that continued till the recent times. It was after 2000 that

the city witnessed economic growth. It houses the Salt Lake Stadium that is

largest in Asia and the second largest in the world. The Indian Institute of

Management, one of India's most prestigious management schools is also located

in Kolkata. The city’s IT sector is growing at 70%

Bangalore:

Officially known as Bengaluru is largest city in India renamed as

Silicon Valley of India.It is the third most populous city of India. Bangalore houses

some of the most recognized educational and research institutes of India.

Numerous public sector industries, software, telecommunication and aerospace

industries are located in Bangalore. Its remarkable contribution to the Indian IT

sector has made it the Silicon Valley of India.

Hyderabad:

It is the financial capital of Andhra Pradesh(Southern India).With an estimated population of 7 million,the city is the biggest contributor to AndhraPradesh’s GDP,

state tax and excise revenues. Hyderabad is now the seat of many businesses including trade, transport, commerce, communication and IT.

Current socio-economic trends suggest that – in order to successfully meet these

Challenges –the number of cities in India will have to increase drastically. (By way

of comparison, China has over 160 cities with a population over one million

whereas India has less than 40). To support these new cities as they strive to

address the challenges of urban transport and mobility, water distribution, waste

Management, etc,

India must develop a comprehensive, supportive policy

Framework for new urbanization that establishes key, guiding principles and

identifies the enablers – like technology, financing and talent attraction – that will

be crucial to the implementation of new, live-able and sustainable urban spaces.

The various concepts of city developments uptill now:

                       

The New Town Concept

The ‘new town’concept,which came up a long time ago took cognisance of the inherent nature of things and tried to overcome urban decay by creating new planned settlements far away from the big metropolitan cities so that population aggregation at one place could be arrested and a more balanced distribution couldbe achieved.

 It was believed that this would over time help in building new

communities and help the parent metropolis to remain healthy and survive longer.Regional development became a new area of interest and practice. At times, newtowns have also come to be called ‘satellite towns’ as they are attached and function along with a parent metropolis.

Existing cities have had huge extensions which are almost like new towns.

 Someexamples are

•         Rohini,

•         Dwarka and

•         Narela as extensions to Delhi, Navi Mumbai toMumbai,

•         Salt Lake City to Kolkata and Yelhanka and Kengeri to Bangalore.

•         Noida,

•         Greater Noida, Manesar,

•         Pimpri-Chinchwad,

•         Rajarhat,

•         Dankuni, etc are other

       examples of such new towns.

What needs to be noted here is the active and prime moving role of the

government here. Unless and until the government takes a keen interest in this,

the procurement of large tracts of land and the development of a town, bearing in

mind all the social requirements and making it inclusive will not just happen.

Most states in India today have township policies. State governments, instead of

themselves developing land, have now started encouraging the private real estate

sector to come in and develop towns. More often than not, areas of conflict of

interest would come about.

The basic motive of profit makes the realisation of the

social objective secondary. Unfortunately, most of these private sector real estate

initiatives have ended up in developments, which are too small, fragmented, in

odd shapes and sizes and mostly catering to the very high income population and

far from inclusive.

•           INDUSTRIAL TOWNSHIPS

Many industrial townships as part of steel plants or large public sector

undertakings have also been developed on modern lines from scratch. Bokaro,

Bhilai, Rourkela and Vizag are such examples. In the private sector, Tata Steel’s

town at Jamshedpur were the pioneers and other large business houses such as

the Birlas, Modis, etc have also contributed to town building, basically to house

their employees close to their factories.

Where even new settlements have been developed, they have come up with a

completely new infrastructure and are well planned. Over a period, they have been

able to acquire their own identity and have successfully provided a reasonably

good quality of life to the residents.

1.4 PRIVATE CITIES

The concept of private cities is gradually gaining acceptance in India. If all goes

well, India should have at least 30 private cities across the country by the end of

this decade. The number could be even greater, depending on the manner in

which India’s policy makers allow this concept to germinate.

India is now home to various types of private cities.

commercial enclaves like those of DLF in Delhi and Hiranandani in Mumbai where

the entire security, street maintenance and administration of the estate is

managed by the developers. Then there are the larger industrial townships like

Jamshedpur, Mithapur and Modinagar, where the entire town’s administration is

managed by the industry promoter (often uneasily) with the consent of the state

government.

1.5 LAVASA: INDIA’S FIRST FULLY PLANNED HILL CITY

Great dreams are realised only by planning. Lavasa, a planned hill station in

Maharashtra, is one such. Billed as India's first hill city since Independence, it is

developed primarily by Hindustan Construction Company(HCC) India and is set

amidst 7 hills and 60 km of lakefront and spread over 25,000 acres.

 It is aconvenient 3 hours drive from Mumbai, an hour’s drive from Pune and is a

whopping quarter size of Mumbai Lavasa is planned across four town centers.

Lavasa city will have a wide range of residences, from sprawling hillside villas,toupto 3 BHK homes and will offer homes which fit budgets across socio-economicclasses.

It is expected to provide abundant opportunities as global leaders in Hospitality, Health and Wellness, Education. Lavasa Tourism will be setting up their

institutions. Added to this, this hill station in Maharashtra has diverse work

possibilities appealing to the IT and biotech industry, KPOs and R&D companies, and

the world of art, fashion and animation.

One of the largest private infrastructure projects in India, Lavasa city is planned

for a permanent population of 0.2 million residents and a Lavasa Tourism inflow

envisaged at 2 million per annum.

1.6 NEW CITIES

With the mess that most Indian megacities are in, it is inevitable not only to

drastically take steps to rehabilitate infrastructure in existing cities but build new

cities to accommodate this burst in urban population. In many cases, if not all,

retrofitting old cities with improved infrastructure and playing the 'catching-up'

game is a more expensive and difficult-to-implement agenda. It is logical and

quicker to build entire new smart cities from scratch instead.

These new cities need to take advantage of new transport infrastructure that is

being planned, such as the high-speed rail (HSR). Railway Budget 2012

announced formation of High Speed Rail Authority to run these trains and that

feasibility study of Pune-Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor is now complete, with

detailed surveys to be undertaken shortly. Studies have also been commissioned

on six other corridors after which implementation of these projects would begin.

Once completed, HSR will reshape the urbanisation process in the country. The

urban sprawl presently limited to 30-50 km from the city centre will change into a

300-500 km long conurbations linking central business districts of multiple cities,

forming urban economies of global scale and size.

Once complete, HSR will convert southern cities such as Thiruvananthapuram,

Bangalore and Chennai into one urban agglomeration with combined economies

comparable to state-level GSDPs. Similarly, Delhi will be linked right up to

Amritsar via Chandigarh and Ludhiana. People will live in Pune or Ahmedabad and

presents a huge opportunity for setting up new cities along the HSR route.

These cities can be developed as smart and intelligent, focused on becoming

engines for innovation and research. Linked with HSR, they will get the

momentum to survive and develop independently.

The new cities in India would also be frontiers of modern technology and

forwardlooking urban planning techniques developed around HSR stations. These

cities would typically house 0.5- 1.0 million residents over the next 10-15 years,

spread over around 100 sq km, similar to ones being developed along the Delhi-

Mumbai Industrial Corridor. The real estate potential of HSR would be fully exploited

by developing these new cities and, instead, be used as a tool to cross-subsidise the

development costs for constructing and operating the HSR lines.

1.7 CALL FOR NEW URBANISM

India struggles with a number of significant barriers that continue to hamper the

development of urban infrastructure: complex leadership structures, land

valuation challenges, capability gaps, and funding shortfalls are all part of the

urban challenge that is effectively holding India back from a new round of

dramatic economic growth. India also needs to address the current problems of

developing good infrastructure, solid waste disposal, flood management, storm

water and sewerage system etc.resulting in urban decay, traffic gridlock and

thereby a deteriorating quality of life for many of its citizens.

The wave of urbanisation that is sweeping across India represents one of the

country's greatest opportunities as well as one of its most serious challenges.

According to the report on 'India's Urban Awakening' by McKinsey Global Institute,

in the next 20 years, India will have 68 cities with a population over one million –

up from 42 today. That is nearly twice as many cities as all of Europe.

Most cities in Europe and America were established in the 19th century when there

was easy availabilibity of land, gas and water. India is a late starter and is far

more crowded and complex . Therefore India requires a far more efficient and

sustainable solution for servicing urban areas and can reap the benefits by using

technology to learn from practices from other parts of the world.

Thus India, too, is on the road to building smart cities—world-class, selfsustainable

habitats with minimal pollution levels, maximum recycling, optimised

energy supplies and efficient public transportation. The cities would come along

Delhi Mumbai Dedicated Rail Freight Corridor which is under implementation. In

this endeavour to transform the rapidly growing urban areas into smarter cities, a

collaborative partnership between government, industry, academia,and civil

society will the pave way for attainment of this dream.

1.8 UPCOMING SMART CITY PROJECTS - DELHI MUMBAI

INTEGRATED CORRIDOR

India is finally set to give shape to its futuristic smart cities - world-class,

selfsustainable habitats with minimal pollution levels, maximum recycling, optimised

energy supplies and efficient public transportation.

The Union industry ministry has sought Rs 185 billion to develop seven cities

around the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), that will criss-cross six

states.         

The $90-billion DMIC project, comprising -- Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan,

Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh -- is being developed in collaboration

with Japan as a manufacturing and trading hub.

The plan is to have brand new cities cities along Delhi-Mumbai Dedicated Rail

Freight Corridor which is under implementation.

The eco-friendly cities would provide world-class facilities with 24-hour power

supply and drinking water, mass rapid urban transportation, with bicycle and

walking tracks, complete waste and water recycling, systems for smart grids -

digitally managed systems to control energy consumption - and smart metering.

The industrial hubs and eco-friendly cities along the Delhi Mumbai Industrial

Corridor (DMIC) are expected to double employment opportunities, triple industrial

production and increase exports by four folds over the next decade.

The first of these cities would come up in Dholera investment region in Gujarat,

110 km from Ahmedabad. The master-plan for the city is ready and talks are on

with farmers for the acquisition of land.

Dholera is just one of the five similar-sized greenfield cities that India hopes to

build in the next few years. They are Manesar-Bawal in Haryana, Indore-Mhow in

Madhya Pradesh, and Dighi and Nasik-Igatpuri in Maharashtra -- all along the

Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor.

According to Amitabh Kant, managing director and chief executive officer, Delhi

Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (DMICDC), “There is a very

strong case for planned cities. India is going to experience rapid urbanisation

involving around 300 million people within the next two to three decades. This

means that they will either drift to existing cities, thus congesting them further,

move into new cities.

 If it is new cities, then they will have to be either cities that

are planned, or cities that evolve, more or less in an unplanned manner.

Masterplans are ready for seven brand new cities spanning six states in what will

be the biggest urban development project .

Their key features are compact,vertical developments, an efficient public transportation system, the use of digitaltechnology to create smart grids for better management of civic infrastructure,recycling of sewage water for industrial use, green spaces, cycle tracks and easy accessibility to goods, services and activities designed to foster a sense of community.This Industrial Corridor includes developments of all means of transport including renewing or establishment of airports and seaports in the corridor cities, building and expansion of roadways and rail networks. Later 17

more cities are planned to be developed on a similar pattern.

A total of 24 such new generation cities are being planned for phased development

across UP, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra. The

first phase will see seven of them opening their doors by 2018-19. The processes

of acquiring land, getting government clearances and generating investment have

already started. Plans are also in place to integrate these cities through new airports, new rail links and arteries of ten-lane highways. The creation of a new urban vision was not the

original intention, though. The DMIC was an economic and commercial initiative of

the government, intended to boost manufacturing through the development of

industrial centres along the western leg of the Mumbai-Delhi-Kolkata dedicated

railway freight corridor The estimated cost of building the new cities varies from Rs 300 billion to Rs 750 billion at current prices, depending on their size. The central and state

governments will carry the burden of financing trunk infrastructure while a

publicprivate partnership model is being tried out for the first time to build houses,

schools, hospitals and other facilities.

“The masterplans for the cities are unique in that an effort has been made to look

at the future by putting in infrastructure ahead of the demand. "We have planned

for 2040," said Kant.

Some of the innovative ideas are - For instance, each city will have underground

utility corridors for parking, sewage disposal and communication lines to give it a

neat look and leave enough space for facilities that are missing in most existing

cities, like pavements, parks and cycle tracks. The transportation axis is designed

to discourage the use of private vehicles. The emphasis will be on dedicated bus

and light rail corridors. The rule that the planners have tried to follow is that some

form of public transport should be available within a 10-minute walk from home or

office.Eventually, the success of these cities will depend on the way they are managed

and promoted. This will require a strong administrator who works like a city-CEO,

the way most mayors are in many big and successful cities in the world.

Such cities can also become benchmarks for other conventional cities to adapt, or

risk losing people as they would move away to these new centres. The list is

seeing new additions at a rapid pace.

1.9 OTHER PLANNED CORRIDOR PROJECTS

Following the successful operationalization of the Delhi-Mumbai Corridor

similar projects are planned pan India.

On these lines the Chennai-Bangalore Industrial corridor and Chennai-Hyderabad

Industrial Corridors are proposed and are being developed. The focus of these

corridors will be automobile and ancillaries in Chennai, Aerospace in Bangalore and

pharmaceuticals in Hyderabad.

The Chennai-Bangalore Industrial corridor is expected to cover the cities of

Ranipet and Hosur. Social infrastructure is also encouraged along this corridor

which is an integral part of any industrialization.

Karnataka government wants to extend this corridor to Belgaum and Mangalore with plans to integrate mining, food parks and cements as part of the corridor industries.

Tamil Nadu government is also planning industrial corridors along Chennai-

Madurai-Tuticorin-Tirunelveli corridor and Coimbatore-Salem corridor. These

corridors are expected to encourage industrialization and integration of regional

economies. This could also be seen in the rising real estate prices along the

upcoming and proposed corridors.

1.10 SMARTCITY KOCHI

SmartCity Kochi (SCK), a joint venture between SmartCity Dubai and the Kerala

government, has approved the concept master plan of the project. The first phase

of the project is expected to be operational within 18 months which includes a

building spread over 3.5lakh sq.ft. The project will enjoy a single special economic

zone (SEZ) status due to the revision of guidelines for SEZs being initiated by the

Union government. The project will be considered single even though there is a

water body seperating the land into two parts. With the notification of the revised

guidelines, the entire 246 acres will recieve a single SEZ status.

This stage includes final detailed master plan, environmental and sustainability

study, urban design landscape guidelines, traffic impact study and plot

development guidelines.

The project, sprawling over 246 acres at Edachira, Kakkanad is expected to

generate 90,000 direct jobs.

1.11 HALDIA PROJECT

The European Business and Technology Centre (EBTC) plans to initiate a pilot

project to demonstrate “smart city concept” at the industrial town of Haldia in

West Bengal. The project would focus on lowering carbon footprint.

EBTC is an European Union initiative to assist business units in India and Europe

on clean technology transfer.

 EBTC has roped in the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry for the pilot project. According to Mr Poul V. Jensen,Director, EBTC, the pilot project would focus on bringing down environment related hurdles that the industrial units in Haldia face while expanding their operations. “We are planning to implement a pilot project to showcase smart city

concepts in lowering carbon footprint. We have decided to carry out a feasibility

study in Haldia,” Mr Jensen told newspersons on the sidelines of a seminar -

‘Water, Wastewater and Green Buildings Mission 2012' .The estimated investment

in the pilot project would be close to €10 million, according to EBTC's Regional

Manager. According to Mr Jensen, Denmark is a leader in clean technologies and

through its arrangement with the Copenhagen Cleantech Cluster, will provide

cleantech solutions to India. “Copanhagen Cleantech Cluster and EBTC will

together work to identify projects, undertake their execution, and facilitate

research and innovation related to green technology initiatives in the energy and

environment sectors,” he added`

1.12 GUJARAT INTERNATIONAL FINANCE TECH CITY (GIFT)

Gujarat International Finance Tech-City or GIFT is an under-construction city

in the Indian state of Gujarat which is about 12 kms from Ahmedabad

International Airport. It will be built on 500 acres (2.0 km2) of land. Its main

purpose is to provide high quality physical infrastructure (electricity, water, gas,

district cooling, roads, telecoms and broadband.

 integrated townships, an entertainment zone, hotels, a convention center,

an international techno park, Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) units,

shopping malls, stock exchanges and service units.

GIFT aims at providing transportation network which ensures accessibility, easy &

fast mobility and zero road accidental deaths.

This would be achieved by:

•           Using a multimodal mix of Transport systems (MRTS/LRTS/BRT, etc.) for both inter region (Ahmedabad, Airport, Gandhinagar and the City) and intra-city.

•         Using walk-to-work concept as part of urban planning with a nodal split of 10:90 between private and public transport.

•          Use of electric Personnel Rapid Transport systems within the City. In future,

City will be linked with Ahmedabad BRTS, operated by Ahmedabad JanMarg Ltd

Currently, two commercial towers, each of 29 floors each are under construction,

while the work on a third residential tower of 33 floors will start soon. Tendering

for the next bunch of towers is going on.

GIFT is conceptualized as a global financial and IT services hub, a first of its kind

in India, designed to be at or above par with globally benchmarked financial

centers such as

•          Shinjuku,

•          Tokyo,

•          Lujiazui,

•         Shanghai,

•         La Defense,

•         Paris, London

•         Dockyards etc

Its Target Business Segments are:

1.     · Financial Services Operations (Back-office of banking, Insurance and Asset

2.     · Management Companies)

3.     · IT services (Software Application development and maintenance)

4.     · Capital Markets & Trading·& ITe Service

5.     · BPO Services

6.     · KPO Services

Project Phases:

First Phase: As of now, proposed GIFT city’s land leveling work             isfinished. Two commercial towers, each of 29 floors are under             construction. They are slated to be completed by 2012 end.

Second Phase: The second phase's construction of roads and bases of                                   buildings -2011-2013

Third Phase: The third phase's planned period for construction and

                           commencement - 2013-2017.

Consultants Engaged in GIFT

•          Design and Architecture - East China Architectural Design & Research Institute

•         (ECADI) and Fairwood Consultants India.

•          ICT Advisory Services - British Telecom

•          Market Demand Assessment - McKinsey & Company

•          Talent Demand Assessment - Hewitt Associates

•          Environmental Assessment - IL&FS Ecosmart Ltd

•          Process Management - IL&FS Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd

•          ICT Management - Cisco Systems International

•          Power Management - ABB

•         1.13 OPPORTUNITIES FOR DUTCH COMPANIES

•         The Netherlands has great expertise in the consultancy, design and master

•         planning of building and urban infrastructure projects. The following pointers

•         indicate the areas of Dutch interest in ways of consultancy/technology

•         transfer/technical expertise/joint venture agreements viz.

•         · Infrastructure Projects comprising transportation linkages thru airports,mass

•         transit links, upgradation of highways

•         Power generation/transmission projects

•         Integrated Water Management

•         Solid Waste Management

•          Multimodal Logistics Parks

•          Telecommunications

•          Water Supply Distribution/Sewerage and Storm Water Drainage

•          Solar Power Projects based on Photo Voltaic Technology

•          Recycling of Waste for Industrial Use

•          Building Business Parks/Industrial Parks/Warehousing and Distribution

•          Centres

•          Telemedicine/telehealth/State of art hospitals and medical centres.

•          Eco Logistics System.

•