Smart cities in india 2015

Government on Thursday,20 august 2015  released a list of 98 cities, including 24 state capitals, which are to be developed as smart cities.Here is the list of smart cities released by the government today :

Real estate market declined by 6%

After surveys it’s clear that the investment in real estate sector by various public and private sources in all over the country has declined by six per cent in last four years of duration. It is clear that for the year 2013 to 2014 the investment in real estate sector in country fell to Rs. 14.30 lacs crore whereas; for the year 2011 to 2012 it was approx. Rs 15.2 lacs crore.

After the survey of Assocham, real estate experts find that more than 76 per cent of total investment in real estate was attracted by the various real estate projects and rest was from non-starter real estate projects in the duration of 2011 to 12 and 2014 to 15.

State wise analysis of Assocham:

After state wise analysis it is clear that for the period of 2014 to 2015 the top five states by the highest share in real estate sector in terms of investments are 21 per cent by Maharashtra, 14 per cent by Uttar Pradesh, 13 per cent by Gujarat, 12 per cent by Karnataka and 8 per cent by Haryana. Coming to the CAGR (compounded annual growth rate) the Assam has witnessed the maximum growth rate in terms of attracting the rela estate investments for the year of 2011 to 2012 and 2014 to 2015 which was 82 per cent followed by 19 percent by Bihar, 17 per cent by Odisha, 16 per cent by Uttar Pradesh and 12 per cent by Uttarakhand.

However; the states which recorded the maximum fall in real estate investments are 40 per cent in Jharkhand, 37 per cent in Himachal Pradesh, 29 per cent in Madhya Pradesh, 16 per cent in Haryana and 7 per cent in Gujarat. The survey was draw by the feedback of 100 big and small companies who are active in the sector of real estate in top cities of the country such as; Chennai, Indore, Lucknow, Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Pune.

Most of the real estate developers are veering the poll and it’s clear that they are down just due to the lack of focus of government from improving demand or supply in real estate sector. Whereas; the survey indicated that the previous and latest Union Budgets was disappointed the real estate sector with the exclusion of the new plan ie. to develop the 100 Smart Cities in the country. Apart from all that the increase in the rate of service taxes by 14 per cent makes the real estate sector but more expensive and it has direct impact on the sales and it is clear that it will make down the real purchasing power of average investors and end users in country.

All the real estate developers are have concern about the increase in excise duty on goods and service tax on construction and also increased on petrol and diesel prices with increase in freight rates on the cement which lead the construction cost in real estate sector. Now there is need to speeding up procedural requirements in the field of real estate sector which have just passed through the single window clearance system from different approvals to increase the operational efficiencies and cost of investment along with the stable and predictable policy framework in real estate sector.

ADB support India’s ambitious plan to build 100 smart cities in Country

ADB (Asian Development Bank), which is Manila based bank stated that they are committed to support India’s most ambitious plan, which is to build around 100 smart cities in the country. As per the statement of Takehiko Nakao, who is the President of Asian Development Bank, “Our bank will continue to play an important role in driving the development of inclusive, resilient, green and eco friendly cities and for the global climate change agenda and success of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

It is expected that the use of intelligent systems and latest technology will improve the urban services for the poor, which will include the affordable transportation and as well as including sanitation, officials said in the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit 2015. From starting Asian Development Bank was committed to support the India’s 100 smart cities initiative. Now it’s perfect time to make the cities greener, so that they can become more resource and energy efficient through promotion of low carbon emission or development and as well as the smart use of natural sources such as; water.

He said, “If we want to see the real growth we need to invest more in mass public transport systems and in better waste and wastewater management process, which means to make the transport systems more integrated for better and convenient uses. The more he added that to make the cities more resilient decision makers we should consider the climate change and natural hazards risks while designing cities as well as the urban infrastructure. It is well known fact that small up-front investments are able to save lives and avoid large scale infrastructure rebuilding and rehabilitation costs later”. Now it’s time to invest more in climate resilient infrastructure like; bigger storm-water retention reservoirs to accommodate variations in rainfall, enlarged drainage systems in cities and elevated roads. At Asian Development Bank, approx. all investment projects are screened for climate risks.

All the green, resilient and inclusive cities need better governance and more effective institutions for management as greater use of integrated urban planning and better use of land can attract more timely investments for resilient and more sustainable infrastructure. For example; It could consider the new finance instruments to better mobilize local resources like; through PPPs (public private partnerships) or municipal bond mechanisms.  As per the statement of ADB President, 2015 can be the milestone for international development in India.

It is expected that an agreement on SDGs for 2015 agenda will appear in the September United Nations (UN) summit, which is going to held in New York and in December there are chances for new climate deal to be agreed at COP 21 in Paris.

Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation

Now finally work is going to start on building the smart cities at Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, and for that central government has moved the conceptualization stage and now after five years they finally sought bids for building core infrastructure on Delhi-Mumbai Corridor.

On last Thursday, DMICDC (Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation) invited the bids for trunk infrastructure and setting the stage for construction of core infrastructure projects in the proposed of green-field city for the Pithampur-DharMhow Investment Region, which is in Madhya Pradesh. According to authentic sources the estimated cost for the initial projects can be worth of Rs 300 crore. Later on Friday evening, the Trust of Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (DMICDC) cleared three smart city projects for a second city in Dholera, which is in Gujarat and it will include the administrative building, water treatment plant and roads and utilities in the first stage. Along with all development and as well as with sewerage treatment plants and common effluent, it is expected that these will be of worth Rs 2,650 crore. After getting the green light from the trust, now DMICDC is planning to seek bids later this month. In next step there will be more bids for similar infrastructure facilities in Shendra, which is in Maharashtra and it will be the third city on which bids are expected to be sought by the end of the financial year.

As per the officials, the work on Integrated Industrial Township in Greater Noida is in progress and for some of the work bids will be invited by the end of March. The fifth project is the Global City near Gurgaon and for that master plan is about to complete. Now DMICDC is too keen for the trunk infrastructure in these three cities as they are ready over in next three years so that work on commercial projects, residential properties and factories can commence. Central government is hoping that the private sector will take over once the core infrastructure is in place. Apart from these five smart cities central government is targeting 100 smart cities, in which most of them will be the upgrading of existing ones, while proposed cities along with the industrial corridor are green-field projects. We all know that in India, only a handful of new cities have been built after the independence.