- The Confederation of the Indian Industry signed two separate Memoranda of Understandings (MoUs) with Siemens Ltd and Hitachi India Ltd to spearhead the conceptualization and implementation of pilot projects in Smart Cities.
- The MoUs were signed by Mr Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII with Mr Sunil Mathur, CEO and Managing Director, Siemens Ltd and Mr Ichiro Iino, Managing Director, Hitachi India Ltd in the presence of Mr Amitabh Kant, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) and HE Mr Takeshi Yagi, Ambassador of Japan.
“Siemens is delighted to be part of the CII Smart Cities initiative. Cities drive economic growth, increased investment and job creation for millions of people who are increasingly converging on them with the hope of security and a better standard of living. For Cities to be able to deliver true value, they need to be able to provide their inhabitants with the highest standard of living while ensuring sustained protection of the environment. Only Cities which are able to reach this equilibrium will be capable of meeting today’s challenges and can look forward to a more sustainable future. Siemens has the portfolio, the know-how, and the expertise to help Cities become more liveable, more competitive and more sustainable.” said Sunil Mathur, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Siemens Ltd.
Globally, Siemens is a leader in providing technology solutions for setting up intelligent (smart), sustainable cities. With solutions for Smart Grid, Building Technologies, Mobility and Power Distribution, Siemens has successfully set up smart cities in Vienna and New York, and is already involved in the Restructured Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme (R-APDRP) Program of the Government of India for installing Smart Grid solutions in multiple cities in India. It has also been a preferred technology solution provider for the Indian Railways for close to six decades. Over the years, it has further built capabilities in the areas of Metros, Integrated Mobility Platforms, Airport Links, Passenger Coaches, Rail Services and Maintenance, Urban Traffic Control, Rail Signalling and other state-of-the-art Transportation Solutions.
CII has set up a “National Mission on Smart Cities” under the Chairmanship of Mr Ravi Parthasarathy, Chairman, IL&FS and the objective of this Mission is to play the role of a facilitator and a thought leader to assist the Government in the process of the development of 100 Smart Cities by 2022. The MoUs are part of the implementation strategy to take forward the Cities initiative.
Since a Smart City initiative in any city would entail a host of sub components including transportation, responsive public services, infrastructure for employment, ICT, etc, it would be beyond the scope of any one organisation to deliver seamlessly across these requirements. The National Mission on Smart Cities has therefore decided to create industry-led consortia, which could render the full range of services for the development of a Smart City, in which Siemens Ltd and Hitachi India Ltd have consented to be the lead industry partner for the German and Japanese consortium.