CII Commends UT Administration for Entering into Smart City Pact with France

By 121 News

Chandigarh 25^th January:- Confederation of Indian Industry commends the Chandigarh Administration for signing of a memorandum of understanding with the Agence Francaise de Development (AFD) to metamorphose Chandigarh into a futuristic modern smart city.

Mr Amarbir Singh, Chairman CII Chandigarh Council and Managing Director, Indian Polymer Industry said that industry is very enthused with this MoU and firmly believes that it would be a stepping stone towards the transformation of Chandigarh into a Smart City. He further said that the MoU was signed in the presence of the Hon'ble President of France and Hon'ble Prime Minister of India at the Indo-France Business Summit organised by the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry and CII in Chandigarh on Sunday. The MoU aimed at providing specific technical assistance and expertise on urban development and optimised solutions for Chandigarh.

The MoU was signed between Pascal Pacaut, Head of Asia Division, AFD, on the French side and Mr Vijay Dev, Adviser to the Administrator, UT Chandigarh.

Pikender Pal Singh, Regional Director, CII Northern Region said that the French experts will provide technical assistance in the fields of transport, water and waste treatment, solar energy, urban planning and architecture and heritage. They will work with the Chandigarh administration in these areas. He added that to make Chandigarh a Smart City it is critical that we are able to engage with agencies which can provide technologically advanced solutions to address issues such as transport, solid waste management, connectivity, etc. This will also help in providing efficient citizen-centric services to the residents.

He said that CII has been working hand in hand with the Chandigarh Administration in submitting the proposal sent to the Ministry of Urban Development in the first phase. The city has added advantage of its heritage, culture and planned development which would get a better fillip under this engagement.

The CII had set up a National Smart City Consortium with companies having expertise in the vital sectors such as energy, solid waste management, IT/ITes and construction equipment companies. The consortium has been working closely with the Chandigarh Administration for many months now.