A paradigm shift from a top-down approach to a bottom-up approach

16 Nov 2022 CW Team

Ujjawal Porwal, COO, Raipur Smart City, shares a progress update on the city’s school upgradations, lake rejuvenation, development of commercial zones and more.

Pace of progress

We have done a lot of tendering as the projects have been proceeding for the last five to six years. We are in the last year of the smart city implementation, so we are focusing on the implementation of the projects, ironing out all the challenges and trying to increase the pace of execution.

Upcoming tenders and projects

We have done school upgrades, converted Hindi medium schools into English medium schools and made them centres of excellence. We have tendered a 24×7 library for the youth who come to Raipur to study. We have made e-books available, spaces to sit for the general public, and an eco-zone so students can study in the natural ambience.

Dream project

First is our Budhatalab project which is 70-80 per cent completed. It is a mixture of urban infrastructure and climate sustainability. We have rejuvenated the oldest lake in the city and turned it into a commercially viable model for tourists. We are also developing a sewage treatment plant to filter the intake coming to the lake.

The second is the library. A lot of youth come into the city to study and there is a need for a government library with minimal charges. It will be open 24×7 with ample parking space and areas for commercial development near the library.

To read the full interview, CLICK HERE

Infrastructure Transport

12 Mar 2026

Kavach 4.0 Commissioned on Delhi–Mumbai and Delhi–Howrah

"Kavach version four has been commissioned on 1,452 route km, covering the high density Delhi–Mumbai and Delhi–Howrah corridors. The rollout included laying 8,570 km of optical fibre, installation of 1,100 telecom towers, deployment of trackside equipment over 6,776 RKm and establishment of 767 station data centres. Trackside implementation has been taken up on 24,427 RKm covering Golden Quadrilateral, Golden Diagonal and High Density Network sections. The programme aims to strengthen signalling and train protection on key routes.Kavach is an indigenously developed automatic train protecti..

Railways Advance Kalyan–Murbad Line And Mumbai Capacity Expansion

"Indian Railways is advancing multiple rail infrastructure projects in Maharashtra, including the sanctioned Kalyan–Murbad new line and sizable investments under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project and the Mumbai–Ahmedabad High Speed Rail project. The Kalyan–Murbad 28 km new line has been sanctioned at Rs 8.36 billion (bn) on a 50:50 cost-sharing basis with the Government of Maharashtra and has been declared a Special Railway Project for land acquisition; proposals covering 214 hectares are at various stages of acquisition. Budgetary outlay for projects falling fully or partly in Maharash..

Parliamentary Panel Flags Funding Gaps in Heavy Industries

"The Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Industry (Rajya Sabha) presented its 332nd report on the Demands for Grants 2026-27 of the Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI). Figures converted from crore and lakh are expressed in million (mn). The Budget Estimates 2026-27 for the Ministry stand at Rs 79,399 mn against a projected requirement of Rs 94,843.2 mn, a shortfall of about 16 per cent, with revenue at Rs 79,370.8 mn and capital compressed to Rs 28.2 mn from Rs 5,020 mn.The committee flagged recurring BE-to-RE compression and declining revised estimate utilisation, and calle..