Indore: Smart City project to get a push at global summit

Officials of UAE-based SmartCity, Dubai, will take part in the Global Investors' Summit in Indore and also explore the possibility of developing a smart city like the one in Kochi in Madhya Pradesh.

Officials of UAE-based SmartCity, Dubai, will take part in the Global Investors' Summit in Indore and also explore the possibility of developing a smart city in Madhya Pradesh. The state government plans to develop a smart city on 1,000 acres of land at a location between Indore and Bhopal.

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"A team of SmartCity, Dubai, will explore the possibilities of developing a smart city like the one in Kochi. A plan and proposed model of the smart city is being prepared," a state government official said.

Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, during his visit to Dubai in August, had met SmartCity chief executive officer Abdullatif Almulla and discussed the proposed smart city project.

Almulla is also the chief business development officer of Dubai Holding, the company which is the main promoter of the Smart City project in Kochi. SmartCity, Dubai, was recently given permissions to construct the first building of Kochi Smart City with an investment of $29 million.

The Kochi Smart City will be the first in India which would be automated township where knowledge-based companies would operate. However, the Kochi Smart City project has been delayed by several years due to protests by opposition parties over concessions on land and other sops. The global recession that started in 2007 also resulted in delays.

The DMICDC will invite international competitive bidding for developing trunk infrastructure including water supply, sewerage treatment and roadways among others. The government will provide funds for the trunk infrastructure through DMIC Trust.

The master plan for the smart city in Ujjain, which will be an integrated industrial township, has already been accepted by the state government and the land acquisition has been completed. The site for the proposed Vikram Udyogpuri is located about 8km from the temple town of Ujjain, which is about 55km from Indore.