India is going smart in a hurry.

The score card
Just consider the numbers:
33 per cent of the total 5,151 projects under the Smart Cities mission have been completed or are currently under implementation, utilising 25 per cent of the envisaged investment. Since the launch of the mission, projects worth Rs 2 trillion are in various stages of implementation in the 100 cities.

So far, 534 projects worth Rs 101.16 billion have been completed. Implementation has commenced for 1,177 projects with a cost of Rs 434.93 billion and tendering has started for 677 projects with a cost of Rs 382.07 billion.

For smart command-and-control centres (CCCs), projects worth Rs 15.58 billion in 11 cities have been completed; projects worth Rs 30.49 billion in 29 cities are under progress; further tenders have been issued for projects worth Rs 27.30 billion in 21 cities. In case of smart roads, projects worth Rs 2.28 billion in four cities have been completed; projects worth Rs 38.19 billion in 34 cities are under progress; further tenders have been issued for projects worth Rs 20.69 billion in 10 cities.

Considering water infrastructure is one of the focal points of the mission, so far, smart water projects worth Rs 9.02 billion in 18 cities have been completed; projects worth Rs 59.61 billion in 35 cities are under progress; further tenders have been issued for projects worth Rs 9.21 billion in 17 cities.

For solar projects, eight cities have completed projects worth Rs 580 million; projects worth Rs 8.28 billion in 42 cities are under progress; further tenders have been issued for projects worth Rs 3 billion in nine cities. In all, visible and impactful projects worth Rs 1.79 billion in 16 cities have been completed; projects worth Rs 37.01 billion in 32 cities are under progress; further tenders have been issued for projects worth Rs 28.28 billion in 20 cities.

Smart infra
Developing smart cities is not just a process whereby technology providers offer technical solutions and city authorities procure them. It also requires the development and maintenance of the infrastructure to support these technical solutions. Thus, the government’s smart cities plan has identified the basic need to merge ICT and civil infra.

To ensure the transition, Gautam Balakrishnan, Vice President-Smart Cities Business, Smart Cities, Tata Projects, says, “They are coming up with many smart infra RFPs (request for proposals), which are localised as per the resources available and are implementing the latest technologies available globally. The bidder is then required to implement the solution and maintain it for a defined period.” For the government, this serves the twin purpose of upgrading to smart solutions and availing them on a service-level agreement (SLA) basis rather than procuring the technology and maintaining it themselves.

Smart cities provide enormous opportunities and Balakrishnan sees this going beyond 2025. “As of now, there are over Rs 1 trillion worth of projects in the smart cities space and most of them are in the infra domain, including smart roads, smart utilities, smart traffic and smart mobility,” he says. “We scout for opportunities to bid as master integrators or take up standalone projects with an ideal contract ticket size of Rs 1-5 billion.”

Dineshchandra R Agrawal Infracon is involved in the development of India’s first heritage smart city: Jaipur. While for Hardik Agrawal, Director, Dineshchandra R Agrawal Infracon, redeveloping the heritage part of the city is an experience in itself, he goes on to elaborate on the opportunities coming with smart roads in India. “On average, every city will have 500 km of smart roads that will need to be built. This spells an opportunity for 500,000 km of smart roads to be developed under the mission. Also, a smart road is allied and built into the infrastructure of sewerage, water supply, ICT ducts, smart lighting, smart bus stops, parking management systems, etc.”

Commenting on the cities identified by the government for smart transformation, R Srinivasan, Executive Vice President & Head, L&T Smart World and Communication, says, “The whole idea is of a hub and spoke model, ie, a nodal central infrastructure is created, in this case CCC, and smart elements are sequentially integrated into it in a phased manner.” L&T Smart World and Communication is currently implementing a project in Tamil Nadu in which the centralised CCC is being set up for 10 smart cities, into which smart solutions will be integrated as they are implemented in phases. In Pune, the company is integrating around 40 smart interventions. And, with more cities preparing to join the smart bandwagon, Srinivasan says, “We see impressive growth in the smart world space, particularly in the areas of smart surveillance, intelligent traffic management systems (ITMS), smart meter, smart grid, smart water management, sewage systems and smart infrastructure across the country.” The smart elements implemented across smart cities can be extended to critical infrastructure across the country in ports, power generation, education, agriculture, EV charging infrastructure, and the oil and gas sectors.

Little wonder then, that consultants are gung ho on preparing master plans for the cities. Grant Thornton India is currently working in Gangtok, Jalandhar, Nagpur, Namchi, Sagar, Tumakuru and Varanasi. “The works are progressing well,” shares T Ravinder Reddy, Partner, Grant Thornton India. “Many of these cities are almost completing the design stage. All the DPRs submitted have been approved, and in each city several tenders have already been issued. Contractors have started work in Varanasi, Nagpur, Sagar, Gangtok and Namchi.”

Action-packed!
The government’s smart mission is indeed keeping companies busy. Major projects involving civil infrastructure in the cities where Grant Thornton India is engaged, include a road project under tendering covering 52 km in the ABD area with Rs 6.50 billion; integrated bus terminal worth over Rs 500 million; an affordable housing project worth over Rs 2 billion; water supply distribution project on a pan-city basis worth over Rs 2 billion; four multilevel cark park projects in different cities, each costing about Rs 200 million; landscaping and beautification of parks; and e-libraries with integrated facilities, including lounges and kiosks.

Tata Projects is involved in the execution of PPP Pune Street lighting projects pan-India (Ludhiana, Noida and Pune); emergency response and OFC projects in Chhattisgarh; and now the ICCC project for Patna Smart City.

L&T Smart World and Communication derives its project execution capabilities from L&T Construction combined with its technological expertise in the smart domain. “It’s a combination that helps us design customised city-specific solutions and deliver projects within stringent timelines,” says Srinivasan. As a master systems integrator, the Smart World Communications business has already carried out and is currently executing projects in 11 Indian smart cities, developing and installing a range of smart solutions aimed to improve the lives of citizens and make their cities safer and smarter. “We have put up India’s largest surveillance projects for Mumbai and Hyderabad, developed the country’s first smart city – Jaipur, and made several other cities smart, including Gandhinagar, Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Vishakhapatnam, Raipur and Prayagraj, to name a few.”

Works in progress
Cities benefit from the creation of new infrastructure or retrofitting existing infrastructure. Through the smart city projects, cities are able to provide their citizens upgraded or new infrastructure to meet the growing population and cater to growing urban areas.

Commenting on projects being currently executed by Tata Projects, Balakrishnan says, “All projects are on schedule. There are execution challenges such as resource availability, clearances and gap in the information. However, we understand and expect these challenges as these are brownfield projects and we are prepared to handle them.”

Dineshchandra R Agrawal Infracon’s flagship project is Jaipur smart city, and the company is involved in Udaipur as well.

“In Jaipur, we are developing smart roads for the city’s old bazaars,” says Agrawal. “We are integrating it with modern facilities such as smart lighting and are redeveloping some old areas that were damaged.” As for challenges, he says the most important aspect is citizen safety. “This is the challenge faced in any urban area, but contractors have learnt to live with this in the sense that we know how to work around it.” With a reach in over 20 states, he adds that the company is eyeing all 100 smart cities. “We are looking at what the project entails, what would be a good bid.”

Two significant mandates won recently are on fast-track implementation. One involves the creation of a city network backbone in Pimpri-Chinchwad and implementation of smart elements such as Wi-Fi, smart kiosks and variable message displays across the city. The other is from the Andhra Pradesh State FiberNet (APSFL) for Bharatnet Phase-2 works to establish an IPMPLS infrastructure to cover 13 districts of Andhra Pradesh to interconnect citizens, government, business and communities and serve as the backbone for all connectivity requirements and ICT-led projects in the state.

“As in any infrastructure project, right-of-way (RoW) issues do prevail; however, the smart city SPV commissioner is empowered to bring everyone under one umbrella for quicker approvals,” says Srinivasan. “During the initial stages of smart projects, we have faced issues in the definition of project outcomes but, with time, we have seen clarity emerging in terms of the expectations of the city for the solutions at the design stage itself.”

Viable finance
Smart cities are funded through an allocation of Rs 480 billion from the Central Government towards 109 smart cities, which is to be matched by the respective state governments. As Srinivasan tells us, “Rs 90 billion was allocated for the selected cities in the Union Budget FY2018-19. The balance funds are being mobilised from other convergence funds like the urban rejuvenation mission AMRUT, JNNSM, Swachh Bharat mission, Disaster Recovery Project Funds and ULB funds. Entities such as EESL have been able to raise funds from multilateral agencies towards green energy projects. Further, funds can be raised through municipal bonds and long-term infrastructure loans from ADB, JICA and the World Bank.”

For his part, Balakrishnan, says, “Under the mission, what the government is funding at present is just a fraction (about 20 per cent) of the total investment required.”

He believes the mission can thrive with active participation from private players for large projects. “A radical redesign of PPP to account for regulatory uncertainty and financial risk will help,” he adds.

Moreover, the government needs to boost public spending as well as generate revenue on its own, which can be achieved by improving credit worthiness. As Balakrishnan concludes, “Outcome-based funding and the value capture model can also be examined as options.” However, Pratap Padode, Founder & Executive Director, Smart Cities Council India, adds a note of caution, “Several cities are grappling with ill-conceived projects, which are headed nowhere, while in several cases cities do not have the money to pay for the work to be done. This is also the case with some infrastructure projects resulting in the contractors taking a back seat in execution since many are worried that the election fortunes may alter the course of this movement.”

Read on for more on municipal bonds and city opportunities shared by CEOs of various SPVs.

How are smart solutions such as ICCC, ITMS, benefitting cities?
As the name suggests, the integrated command-and-control centre (ICCC) works as a brain for all smart solutions implemented across a city, whether it is a surveillance system, smart traffic management, waste management, utilities management, environmental sensors or public information system. “An ICCC collates information for collaborative monitoring to analyse data for quicker decision-making,” says R Srinivasan, Executive Vice President & Head, L&T Smart World and Communication.

“Through an ICCC, a centralised location, it is possible to quickly disseminate information to citizens on a real-time basis through variable message displays (VMD), PA systems, etc, to facilitate faster action and better management,” he explains. “For instance, the Mumbai command control system has detected over 15,000 crowd gathering incidents that could be managed well by the authorities. When Mumbai was lashed by heavy rains in 2018, the Maharashtra chief minister could get an overview of the situation at a CCC, and receive real-time feeds to initiate action.”

He goes on: “Last month, we executed the first phase of a project to get Prayagraj, Kumbha Mela-ready in record time. We developed and installed a whole range of smart solutions including an intelligent traffic management system (ITMS), VMD, a surveillance system, a 24 x 7 call centre and a solid waste management system, all connected to a dedicated 24 x 7 city operations centre with integrated dashboard for an eagle’s-eye view of municipal functions enabling real-time, data-driven decision-making and actionable insights. Also, recently, two state-of-the-art CCCs have been set up: One at the Kumbh-specific area and another at Police Lines for overall city surveillance.”

Srinivasan also tells us about the Panaji Smart City project, which the company is implementing. “It envisages the establishment of city-wide network Wi-Fi services, city surveillance, ICT-enabled solid waste management, environmental sensors, ITMS, smart parking and an ICCC enhancing the experience of its citizens and tourists. One of the unique features of the project is the security operations centre (SOC), which is the first-of-its-kind in the smart city domain.”

Bond with the Best!
With the current funding structure or guidelines laid down by the Centre, each selected city, for the period of four to five years, will receive Rs 5 billion and an equally matching amount will be contributed by the state governments. This means the state governments and Centre are required to shell out or make an arrangement for Rs 1 trillion collectively towards the selected 100 cities. That apart, municipal corporations will contribute Rs 200 billion. Considering these huge numbers, the Centre and state governments may be in a much better position in terms of their revenue streams, but with an eye-popping Rs 1 trillion to contribute, the ULBs have a mammoth task ahead.

In this funding pattern, the Centre and state governments, with 46 per cent of the contribution, remain the major shareholders in the Smart Cities mission, followed by convergence from various Centre-driven schemes like AMRUT, Housing for All, etc, which comes to around 21 per cent, PPP with 20 per cent, equity funds with 4 per cent, ULBs 1 per cent and 8 per cent from other sources. Here, with 67 per cent, Central Government grants and schemes remain the top contributor. Thus, the dependence of selected smart cities on these grants can certainly jeopardise their envisaged plans if not released on time.

In the next five years, special purpose vehicle (SPVs) will spend Rs 1,642 billion on projects conceived under area-based development (ABD) and Rs 389 billion on pan-city development. The question is, though, how are these funds likely to be mobilised? For instance, the selected ULBs carrying out the SCM are solely dependent on revenue streams such as property tax, building licence fees and other land-based levies such as betterment levy, valorisation, impact fee, exaction, stamp duty, hawker or vendor fee, PPP and advertisement fees. However, moving away from archaic ways of traditional funding, cities are now vying for credit ratings for mobilisation of resources through municipal bonds, crowd and pooled funding, etc, reflecting on their keenness to think and act differently.

Bonding together
In India, the municipal bond market is largely untapped.
Over the past 15 years, only a handful of municipal corporations have managed to raise funds from bond issues to the tune of a mere Rs 15 billion. However, the game has changed with the advent of smart cities in India. In the past two years, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) have successfully raised Rs 4 billion. PMC will use its funds for a 24 x 7 water supply project, whereas GHMC will use the funds for a strategic road development project. In December 2018, the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) successfully raised Rs 800 million to part-financing the development of sewerage system and supply of treated water to various industries in Visakhapatnam. It is also worth mentioning the recently issued municipal bonds by Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC). The Rs 1-billion bond was oversubscribed 10 times within minutes, creating history in the overall municipal bonds market in India.

Meanwhile, to raise funds through municipal bonds, one needs capacity augmentation of ULBs. As Prakash Gaur, CEO, Andhra Pradesh Urban Infrastructure Asset Management (APUIAML), explains, “The ratings span 20 levels from AAA to D, with BBB- being investment-grade rating; cities rated below BBB- have to get better ratings to attract investors.” He further adds: “Considering the long gestation period of urban projects, it is always beneficial to opt for bond funding than using one’s own resources as the duration is 10 years with a guaranteed return on investment for investors.”

Commenting on the recent success of municipal bonds, Ashish Sable, Senior Vice President & Group Head, Debt Capital Markets, SBI Capital Markets, says, “I think the process of raising funds through municipal bonds will make ULBs accountable to be transparent. This will compel the ULBs to meet the investors’ requirement in terms of disclosure, discipline, etc.”

Although municipalities have tremendous potential for growth, except for a few large municipalities, the growth of smaller municipalities, ULBs and towns has been muted. According to reports, till now, only 55 of the 94 cities had investment-grade ratings. Ratings are based on multiple criteria, like the cities’ social and economic profile, operating efficiency, policy framework, recent financials, etc.

So why is it necessary for ULBs to opt for municipal bonds? According to M Hari Narayanan, Commissioner, Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation, municipal bonds give a higher rate on investments compared to banks and bring in a lot of financial discipline in the ULB as it needs to get its account audited on a regular basis and has to show substantial cash flow or revenue streams to rating agencies.

Rs 7,000 billion is required for urban development over a period of 20 years, ie, around Rs 350 billion per year. But does India have enough instruments to fund this kind of capex? Let’s do a fact check. The Government of India borrows around Rs 6,500 billion from bond markets; however, India’s corporate bond market is equal to what the government is borrowing. In fact, it is much bigger. To cite an example: Pune and Hyderabad have issued their bond at 7.57 per cent and 8.9 per cent, respectively, which is far better than the Central Government’s borrowing rate.

Smart Projects On The Go!
Agra Focussed on not only preserving the traditional and historic traits of Agra but also improving those with the help of technology is one motto being aggressively pursued by  Agra Smart City (ASCL), says Arun Prakash, CEO, Agra Smart City, and Municipal Commissioner, Agra Municipal Corporation.

He shares:
Current progress of works in the city: The smart city proposal of Agra defines another heritage precinct called Taj Improvement District (TID). It envisions retrofitting of 2,250 acre of the selected local area – Taj Mahal, and area comprising Tajganj, Agra Fort, Jama Masjid and Fatehabad road till the inner Ring Road. With an envisaged outlay of Rs 16.99 billion under ABD and Rs 4.34 billion under pan-city spread over the next five years, TID aims to revive the historic relationship of the micro-commerce with the monument. The proposal revolves mainly around street improvement, beautification, decorative flyovers, murals and some façade improvements in the old city and lacks a comprehensive approach towards making provisions in conserving the heritage precinct defined in the smart city proposal.

Smart infra:
The heritage walk (total distance: 3 km) is proposed to be conducted around the old market area comprising of the little known as well as art and culture of Agra, like marble inlay, Zardosi work and flower market.
The total cost of the project is Rs 31.4 million. It is aimed at enhancing the image of ‘Street Vending Zones’, entails providing facilities and a designated place for the street vendors as well as for the tourist to enhance the experience of Agra streets and food, flowers and other markets. For this project, the following locations have so far been identified: One near Amar hotel, towards Vibhav Nagar; one Vishal Mega Mart, Fatehabad road; and Basai Sabji Mandi, towards 100 ft road.
Our ‘Junctions Improvement’ project is being executed at an estimated Rs 69.7 million. The development work at all the locations include new signages, pavement marking, median, roundabout, landscaping, signals, channeliser, and earthwork wherever required.
Also, in a bid to beautify the area around the Taj Mahal, the project of tree illumination at Taj east and west gate is in full swing at a total cost of Rs 65.6 million. Further, the work is in full swing on streetscaping and beautification of Fatehabad road in ABD area.
As part of our project on façade improvement of select houses along Daresi Road, being executed at Rs 9.7 million, we have  identified approximately 50 traditional houses, which is considered to be older than the famous Taj Mahal.
Another important project being implanted is the Solar Installation on Renewable Energy Service Company (RESCO) mode. Being implemented at Rs 2.65 billion, this project will lead to significant reduction of conventional fuel and help in the reduction of carbon emissions also.
Other major projects in the ABD area include providing 24 x 7 water supply integrated with SCADA systems and sewerage system, rehabilitation of all major and minor roads, and solid waste management.

Total budgetted amount towards the city’s civil infrastructure works:
Agra’s smart city proposal totals to around Rs 21.33 billion, of which Rs 13.65 billion is envisaged to be raised using smart city funds and PPP, and the remaining Rs 7.68 billion through convergence, which comprises 23 projects under smart city and 17 projects under convergence. Work orders of 15 projects have already been issued, and tenders are already in process for the other projects. As on date, approximately Rs 400 million has been spent.

Indore
The vision of Indore Smart City is to promote mixed-land use in ABD, provide house and inclusiveness, create walkable localities, and preserve and develop open spaces. With 29 projects in the DPR stage (including PPP projects), 29 projects (including PPP) are in the tendering stage. Seventy-six projects worth Rs 15.18 billion are in progress while 41 projects worth Rs 1.05 billion have already been completed, says Rohan Saxena, CEO, Indore Smart City.

He shares:
Smart infra:
Under the smart street lighting works, the city will be installing 16,000 energy-efficient LED street lights with smart controls in the pan-city area. Another project includes decorative façade lighting on various heritage monuments and other important squares, junctions and bridges in the ABD and its peripheral area.
As part of the ABD, the city is planning for underground cabling works with compact type sub-stations for the Bada Ganpati to Krishnapura Chatri and nearby major roads, and the Jincy Bus Depot to Rambagh Bridge and nearby major roads.
Besides, redevelopment projects are coming up under the ABD component in several areas.
Another project includes the development of multilevel car parking in different locations in the ABD.
Also, a flyover will be coming up at Mhow Naka Square, and widening of the existing river bridge (Subhash marg Bridge and Krishnapura bridge) is another project.
Other projects include the development of sector parks, improvement in other existing parks and water huts at 100 locations.

Total budgetted amount: Of the total Rs 26.20 billion budgetted for Indore Smart City, Rs 1.17 billion has been spent so far.

Kakinada
The vision of the city is to transform Kakinada from pensioners’ paradise to being an economic destination, says K Ramesh, CEO & Managing Director, Kakinanda Smart City Corporation. He shares:

Current progress of works in the city: We have undertaken 50 projects worth Rs 9.40 billion under the smart city mission, of which 12 projects worth Rs 1.12 billion have been completed, 16 projects worth Rs 2.57 billion are in progress, and another 22 projects worth Rs 5.68 billion are in the tendering or DPR stages. We have also undertaken 15 other projects worth Rs 10.60 billion under convergence. Of this, work is in progress for six projects worth Rs 7.19 billion, and two projects worth Rs 1.50 billion is under the tendering stage. Meanwhile, we have received three bids for development of roads in Kakinada, for which we have completed the technical evaluation and are awaiting the EPC committee report for approval of price bids.

A total of Rs 3.60 billion worth tenders are in process:
Development of convertible stadium.
24 x 7 water supply including scada.
Canal Front Development – Phase-I and -II.
Godavari Kalakshetram.
Science Centre.
Multi-level car parking.
Development of infrastructure in primary schools.
Skill development centres.
Smart community initiative – development of slums (Phase-II).
Implementation of underground sewerage system.
Extension of solar/LED street lights.
Waste management.
Providing sewerage system with STP at Yetimoga, Kakinada.
Out fall storm water drainage network.

Smart infra: At a total cost of Rs 1.08 billion, we have undertaken DPRs for an underground electrical cabling project, aided by the World Bank; and a disaster recovery project; electric public transportation system; smart service delivery interface; and development of stadiums.

Total budgetted amount towards the city’s civil infrastructure works: Of the total Rs 9.40 billion budgetted for the city’s infrastructure we have spent Rs 1.15 billion. Under convergence, we have spent Rs 9.10 billion so far from the budgetted Rs 21.12 billion.

Nagpur
The Nagpur Smart City proposal seeks to develop Nagpur as a truly inclusive city by removing the dichotomous growth, and enhancing its profile by improving the quality of life in the vulnerable areas and bringing them at par with the rest, says Dr Ramnath Sonawane, CEO, Nagpur Smart and Sustainable City Development Corporation. He shares:

Current progress of works in the city: A total of 20 projects are identified in the smart city proposal, of which, two projects have been completed. Work order has been issued for four projects and one project has been tendered out. DPR is under preparation for the remaining 13 projects.

We have issued work orders for design and construction of roads, bridges, culverts, sidewalks and MEP works on the TenderSURE concept for ABD. Preliminary works such as surveys and road marking have been commenced by the contractor. We have also issued tenders for the construction of 1,024 dwelling units for the rehabilitation of project affected people under the town planning scheme. DPR for multi-level car parking is under preparation. And, under pan-city, smart bus-shelter is under progress. Also, 136,000 LED lights will be installed in 10 zones of the city, of which, 48,571 LED lights have already been installed.

DPR under preparation:
Move People Initiative (e-buses).
Share a bike.
E-rickshaws.
Automated MLCP at Pardi.
Shikhshit and Niramay Pardi Bharatwada and Punapur (school and hospital in ABD area).
Kaushal PBP area (skill development centre).
Public market places.
Public gardens and landscaping.
Zero garbage society.
Rainwater harvesting.
Project Suraksha App.
Project ‘Attractive Public Realm’ and public art installation.
Nirmal Nag River Project (Nag River Pollution Abatement Project).

Total budgetted amount towards the city’s civil infrastructure works: As of now, the total estimated cost towards civil infrastructure works is around Rs 9.70 billion. The amount spent till date is around Rs 1.80 billion.

Pune
Pune Smart City aims to use an ‘integrated approach’ to provide solutions. Dr Rajendra Jagtap, CEO, Pune Smart City Development Corporation (PSCDC), elaborates, “Through a state-of-the-art command and control centre and revolutionary traffic management system, the city aims to integrate various authorities under one centralised control.” He further shares:

Current progress of works in the city: Pune is using ABD and the retrofitting model for new urban infrastructure. Till date, PSCDC has issued RFPs worth Rs 5 billion, which includes adaptive traffic management, developing traffic master plan, the junction redesigning, solid waste management and vehicle tracking system. We have already made available 5,000 bicycles for public use across the city and are adding to this number. In the future, Pune is looking at electric auto rickshaws as a viable mode of transportation. We have completed 58 projects worth Rs 48 billion and are aiming to issue 40 more tenders by January 30 this year.

Smart infra: We have conducted a successful pilot project to convert 1.5 km into smart roads, and are in the process of converting 80 km of streets across the city. We are also using optic fiber ducts to establish high speed internet connectivity.

An e-corridor is being set up to create Wi-Fi and connectivity throughout the city. Further, 500 new smart toilets and smart poles will be constructed around Pune. We aim to use an ‘integrated approach’ to provide solutions. Through this system, the city will be in a position to provide a faster response time for emergencies, real-time traffic and weather data on variable message displays, and manage the public transportation system with the highest level of efficiency.

Shimoga Under its smart city mission, Shimoga has about 74 projects worth Rs 11.84 billion, which are under various stages of project preparation or execution or tendering, says Charulata Somal, Managing Director, Shivamogga Smart City Corporation, and Commissioner, Shimoga City Corporation. She shares: Current progress of works in the city: Shivamogga Smart City has so far issued work orders for 16 works worth Rs 640.6 million. We have also recently issued work orders for all the key smart roads – five smart road packages and three other projects worth Rs 3.7 billion, which cover the entire ABD area road infrastructure works. Smart infra: GIS mapping of all the street light poles in the city has been done, and a RFP has been floated to replace 19,500 existing conventional street lights with LED lights and to deploy over 2,000 more new LED lights in the upcoming project proposals. Floated at an estimated Rs 310 million on January 4, 2019, the last date for bid submission is February 6, 2019. We conducted a pre-bid meeting for the project in January, for which, there was a good response from the potential bidders.

The idea of smart roads is to take all the utilities underground in the ABD area. We have divided the ABD area into five zones.

These smart road packages include the underground ducting of utilities such as electrical LT/HT cabling, water supply pipes, sewerage, OFC cabling and street light cabling, and gas pipelines. The work orders for these five packages worth Rs 3.7 billion has been recently awarded. Further, there is a proposal for affordable housing with an estimated Rs 1.4 billion. Twelve notified slums have been identified and the stakeholder consultation for the in-situ development of the housing units is in progress. What’s more, various approaches have been made towards achieving sustainable urban mobility. Apart from smart roads being developed with pedestrian-friendly footpaths and cycle tracks to encourage non-motorised transport in the city, public bike sharing is being introduced, in which 12 locations have already been identified for geo-fenced bike docking stations. Under intelligent traffic management, the city has initiated to bring it as part of the Integrated Command and Control Centre. Critical junctions have been identified and existing traffic signals will be replaced with new signals and controllers that are capable of automatically optimising the signal timings based on the traffic density identified through cameras and sensors at these junctions. For parking related issues, existing conservancies are being developed as parking lanes by introducing the smart parking system with a dedicated app to send feeds to the users about the vacant parking slots in the core business district. Further, two multi-level car parking proposals have been made (DPR under preparation) to address the traffic congestion.

Total budgetted amount towards the city’s civil infrastructure works: About Rs 9 billion has been allocated towards civil infrastructure works, and works worth Rs 4.3 billion have already been awarded.

The utilisation so far is about Rs 90 million.

Ujjain
Despite being selected in round two of the Smart Cities mission, Ujjain has been able to tender out 42 out of its 43 listed projects. Of the 42 tendered projects, 13 projects worth Rs 1.62 billion have already been completed, says Awadhesh Sharma, CEO, Ujjain Smart City. He shares:

Current progress of works in the city: Projects worth Rs 11.90 billion are under implementation while another Rs 5.09 billion projects are under the tendering stage. Another Rs 60 million worth projects are in the DPR phase.

Smart infra: Major civil projects under the implementation and tendering stage include:
Smart road with underground ducting: The entire ABD area is proposed to be covered with 25 km of smart roads, which will include five services, ie, sewerage, storm water drains, underground electric cables, shaft for telecom cables, and duct for gas pipeline. The approximate cost is Rs 3.45 billion.
MRIDA: Key elements of the MRIDA plan project include a visitor plaza that will hold about 20,000 pilgrims at a time, multi-level car parking for 600 cars, 600 mt of heritage corridor from the plaza to the temple. Construction of the Rs 2-billion project is proposed to start soon.
Ujjain Convention Centre: This project will comprise of a grand hall of 1,800 sq m, five smaller halls, two restaurants, exhibition area and car parking for 250 cars. Construction of this s 1.45 billion project is expected to commence soon.
Ujjain Swimming and Sports Complex: The complex comprises an Olympic size swimming pool, diving pool, warm-up pool and kids pool, along with a sports block for indoor sports. It will also include a gym, sauna, steam bath, restaurant, tennis court and basketball court. Forty per cent has been completed and the project is expected to cost about Rs 300 million.
Multi Modal Transit hub: We have proposed to integrate the Dewas Bus Stand and Ujjain railway station terminals to develop an integrated Multi-Modal Transit Hub. To be taken under the railway station development project, the approximately Rs 860-million project is proposed to be funded through PPP and an EoI has already been floated.
Major ICT projects under implementation and tendering stage include:
Integrated Traffic Management System (ITMS): Nine junctions in the city along with all the entry and exit points will be covered under the ITMS system; this will be connected to ICCC for the live feed and necessary actions.
Smart poles: The appointed PPP partner will install smart poles across the city.
Total budgetted amount: The total project cost for Ujjain Smart City is Rs 18.68 billion.

Vizag
Our mission aims at efficiently utilising the available assets, resources, and infrastructure to enhance the quality of urban life, says M Hari Naryanan, Municipal Commissioner, Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC). He shares:

Current progress of works in the city: As per the plan, close to 70 per cent of the work has been grounded. We have completed an ICCC at the GVMC office, Centralised Command Control Centre at the Police Commissioner’s office, and Phase-II of the smart poles project for redesigning and beautification of roads costing Rs 600 million. Further, works worth Rs 6.50 billion are underway, which includes the Rs 800 million 24 x 7 water supply project and Rs 650 million sewerage network.

Smart infra: We are extending the smart street project to 34 more roads spanning 11.5 km. This project is already underway at 20 roads, spanning 19.5 km, and will cost around Rs 1.60 billion. To make Vizag energy-sufficient, we have planned a 15-MW floating solar power plant worth Rs 1 billion.

Total budgetted amount towards the city’s civil infrastructure works: Smart city projects will be implemented over a period of five years with an outlay of Rs 16.02 billion. So far, we have spent close to Rs 3 billion.

- SHRIYAL SETHUMADHAVAN, SERAPHINA D’SOUZA and RAHUL KAMAT