India and Austria tied up for development of Smart Cities in India

India and Austria on 2 October 2012 tied up to develop smart cities that would include fine planning of the city including the transport system and services of internet. The decision came up after the meeting of Union Minister for Urban Development Kamal Nath with Austrian Federal Minister for Transport, Innovation & Technology Doris Bures.

The plans of developing the new cities will be implemented under the second phase of Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM II). As per the plans initially two model smart cities will be developed in every state of the country that will include the mid-sized cities with a minimum population of half a million to one million.

Every State to have two smart-cities

Austrian Institute of Technology will assist the country in planning and development of the smart cities that will include things that it needs to cover, broadband facilities to its maintenance to carbon levels. As per the plans of the Central Government under JNNURM II every state will have two model towns initially.

70 cities with over a million population graph are in plan

Plans are on the paper to convert at least 70 cities with million plus population in India into smart cities. Austria that has been into different types of trade-relations for a long time with India will be offering the potential technical support.

Organizations involved in project implementation

Austrian Institute of Technology and the National Institute of Urban Affairs that is a research, information and training wing under the Urban Development Ministry, would be the partners in the project.