Indore stands out as role model for Smart City mission: Venkaiah Naidu

Union minister Venkaiah Naidu praised the Madhya Pradesh government for making remarkable progress in the Smart City mission, saying Indore stands out as a perfect example before the country in meeting challenges.

Union minister Venkaiah Naidu praised the Madhya Pradesh government for making remarkable progress in the Smart City mission, saying Indore stands out as a perfect example before the country in meeting challenges.

Union minister for urban development Venkaiah Naidu addresses the closing ceremony of the summit at the Brilliant convention centre in Indore. (Shankar Mourya/ HT photo)

“We will provide all possible help to Madhya Pradesh on priority basis for its urban development mission. Constant efforts are needed to complete infrastructure development in small urban habitats. Madhya Pradesh has now become an important state, and urbanization is the core of development and the need of the hour,” the Union urban development minister said at a special session on urban development in the Global Investors’ Summit.

Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, principal secretary of urban development Malay Shrivastava, Urban Administration and Development commissioner Vivek Agrawal, transport principal secretary SN Mishra, town and country planning commissioner Sanjeev Yadav were present in the session.

Urban development minister Maya Singh informed the delegates that Madhya Pradesh saw investments worth `20,000 crore in the sector after the previous investors’ summit in 2014. “The government received ‘Intention to Invest’ of `1 lakh crore in the urban development front. Funding has gone up by 8-10 times in the last few years,” she added.

School of Planning and Architecture director Chetan Vaidya called for developing a ‘powerful revenue base’ to sustain urban development. The state should draw plans to meet power requirements of smart cities simultaneously along with their development, he said.

Experts in the field of urban development said the urban development department should go for long-term sustainability in Smart City projects.