IBM to provide smart city tech for Lodha's Palava project

Technology and consulting firm IBM has entered into an agreement with realty player Lodha Group to develop and manage smart city infrastructure in the real estate group's township project- Palava in Thane district.
The project, spread across 4,000 acres and envisioned as a city, will incorporate IBM's smarter city technology using advanced data driven systems to integrate information from all operations in Palava into a single system.
"IBM will integrate services in areas such as energy, water, transportation, public safety and smart cards with a central command and control center. We will also support a central hub to monitor and enable coordination among Palava city and agencies involved in public safety and emergency management," IBM India (South Asia) Director of smart planet solutions Dhamodaran Ramakrishnan told reporters here.

Located at the centre of the economic triangle of Navi Mumbai, Thane, and Kalyan, Palava project is expected to be completed by 2025 and house one lakh families. It will also provide 3.5 lakh jobs.
"Palava will not just offer a quality of life to its citizens but also become an ecosystem for nurturing business, creating jobs and delivering growth. IBM's smart city technology will help us ensure safety, efficiency and governance with participation from citizens," Palava Development Director Shaishav Dharia said.
The first phase of the project, where it will build 19,000 homes, will be completed by 2015-end.
"We will require to spend another Rs 14,000 crore by 2025 when the entire project is expected to be completed. We will also need an incremental investment of Rs 400 crore for the next 10 years for making Palava a smart city," he added.

Dharia further said IBM will provide a 360 degree view of the key functions for managing the township which will enable city officials to better allocate resources, adopt preventive maintenance measures and proactively manage issues that could affect quality of life.