Union minister Naidu to attend conference in Berlin, seek investment

Naidu's visit is also aimed at 'intensifying high-level engagement for identifying new opportunities' for German companies in urban development sector

Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu will attend a three-day conference on 'Smart City Mission' starting tomorrow in Berlin to promote investment in the urban development sector in the country.

Three Indian cities are to be developed as smart cities in collaboration with Germany.

The Union Urban Development Minister, who leaves for Berlin tonight, will hold detailed talks with his German counterpart and senior officials on the roadmap for developing the Bhubaneswar (Odisha), Kochi (Kerala) and Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu) as smart cities with German assistance, an official statement said.

The three cities have been identified further to consultations between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and German Chancellor Angela Morkel in October last year here.

Naidu's visit is also aimed at "intensifying high-level engagement for identifying new opportunities" for German companies in the urban development sector offered by the initiative of development of 100 smart cities, it said.

Germany's Minister of Environment, Nature Conservation, Buildings and Nuclear Safety Barbara Hendricks will also participate in the conference.

As part of the '100 Indian Smart Cities Conference' and Metropolitan Solutions - 2016 events being held concurrently, exhibitions and 20 theme conferences on the issues of urban energy, urban management, urban mobility and logistics, urban water and waste management and urban buildings and public spaces will be held, it said.

Naidu will be accompanied by Urban Development Ministry's Additional Secretary and Mission Director of the 'Smart City Mission' Samir Sharma.