Signing of MoU with Bloomberg Philanthropies to support development of Smart Cities Okayed

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday gave its approval for signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Urban Development and Bloomberg Philanthropies (BP), New York, to support the development of Smart Cities.

The proposal entails Bloomberg Philanthropies to work as knowledge partner and support the development and execution of a cities challenge under the Smart Cities Mission.

The Union Cabinet has already approved the Smart Cities Mission in its meeting held on April 29, and subsequently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the mission on June 25, when the mission statement and guidelines were also released.

The proposal under the Smart Cities Mission seeks to facilitate creation of quality urban infrastructure, which will lead to improvement in the quality of urban life.

As Knowledge Partner, Bloomberg Philanthropies will also support the Ministry of Urban Development in helping design and manage the cities challenge.

There is no financial implication to the Government of India as the cost implications to the activities done in supporting the mission will be incurred by Bloomberg Philanthropies.