India needs innovative, sustainable and creative urbanisation: Amitabh Kant

"Technology and Public Transportation are the key to Sustainable urbanization" said Amitabh Kant, CEO and Managing Director, Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (DMICDC), while addressing the CII Western UP Annual Session and Conference on Smart Sustainable Cities held at Radisson here today.

Highlighting the need for an innovative, sustainable and creative urbanization process, Kant emphasised that "India has the advantage of leveraging the strength of digital technology to integrate all the utilities and bring real time governance, further adding that integrating ICT with urban planning is important for sustainable cities. Successful public transportation and land monetization are another important aspects of sustainable urbanization.

Kant also informed that "DMICDC is creating seven new cities across the DFC routes which would help the region evolve as a true manufacturing and services hub as also improve employment opportunities in the region".

He further emphasized that India should look towards eastern countries like Singapore rather than the United States and European cities to learn from their experiences for its own urbanization.

Rama Raman, Chairman and CEO of Noida and Greater Noida Authority, was also present at the inaugural ceremony. Noida Authority partnered with CII for this conference.

Dr.Prem C Jain, Chairman, IGBC and AECOM India, shared IGBC's green movement in the country. He congratulated Noida Authority for being the first to provide five per cent more FAR for 'Platinum and Gold rated buildings which will give huge fillip to the green movement'.

Sameer Gupta, Chairman, CII Western UP Zonal Council and Managing Director, Jakson Group, said that the city of future needs to be built in a manner that enhances the city's socio-economic structure, i.e., improves the city's economy and the quality of life that its citizens get. Leveraging technology, India can be in a position to leap-frog to the next level. This will also be critical for ushering in green policy and initiatives for the cities.

Prateek Garg, Vice Chairman, CII Western UP Zonal Council, and MD and CEO, Progressive Infotech Pvt Ltd., said that to succeed in the future, cities have to deliver economic activity, quality of life and a lower environmental footprint. This cannot be delivered by optimising the separate components of the city infrastructure. New integrated, user-driven and city-wide solutions are required.

The conference highlighted the importance of a globally coordinated approach and internationally standardized technologies in the creation of new 'smart sustainable cities' that will reduce the environmental footprint of cities, increase their appeal, and safeguard quality of life-all without any adverse effects on the efficiency of utilities.

The other key speakers who joined the conference included Mr V Suresh, Director, Hiranandani Palace Gardens Pvt Ltd and Formed CMD, HUDCO; Mr Ashish Mathur, Managing Director, Jamshedpur Utilities and Services Company Ltd; Mr Vidur Bharadwaj, Director, The 3C Company; Mr Mukund Vasudevan, Managing Director, Pentair Water India Pvt Ltd; Mr Jens Burgtorf, Director, Indo-German Energy Programme, Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ); Mr Prabhpreet S Shah, Executive Director, Creative Group; Mr Neelesh Kelkar, GM - Smarter Buildings, IBM India Ltd.