The 100 smart cities bandwagon is getting heavier with Malaysia as the latest bidder. A top Malaysian government-run and private companies consortium, Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB), proposed investment worth $30 billion in re-developing the New Delhi railway station and adjoining areas into a mini smart city and turn the temple town of Garhmukteshwar in Uttar Pradesh, into a green city.
A 30-member strong CIDB-led conglomeration offered to develop the New Delhi railway station and Garhmukteshwar, about 100 km from the national capital, as two separate theme-based cities.
The proposal came at a meeting between the Malaysian works minister Haji Fadillah Bin Haji Yusof and Union urban development minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday.
A group of 12 Malay-sian companies have mooted pumping in $24 billion to re-develop the railway station and adjoining areas covering 1,000 hectares currently with the Indian Railways, urban development ministry and the municipal corporation of Delhi (MCD).
The CIDB consortium has also proposed to evolve Garhmukteshwar in Hapur district of Uttar Pradesh, off-national highway 24, as a green city that includes housing and cleaning of Ganga riverfront with an investment of $4 billion.
CIDB includes the Malaysian Highways Authority, Pembinan, Exim Bank and private companies like IJM Construction, UEM, Selia, Amona, Sunway Constructions, KLCC Projects, Scomi International and Veritas Architects as partners.
State-run National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) is likely to be considered a partner with the Malaysian consortium.
The urban development minister will brief UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal separately on the proposed project. NBCC will ask both states to name two separate state-run firms to join the international consortium.
Developing the New Delhi railway station area into a mini smart city and Garhmukteshwar as green city are part of the plan to carve out 100 such urban enclaves based on different themes. Meanwhile, China’s Sany with a market capitalisation of $21 billion, has committed $ 3 billion investments in Indian urban smart cities projects with its own manufacturing facilities.
Malaysia is latest in the long list of nations and global majors that have committed to partner India for development of smart cities. Japan was first on that list when it offered to develop Varanasi as heritage city using its Kyoto experience. In January this year, USTDA concluded technical and financial deals to develop Allahabad, Ajmer and Vishakapatnam as smart cities.
Germany and India have set up a six-member committee to evaluate the possibility of Berlin’s proposal to develop smart cities. French president Francois Hollande too has committed 3 billion euros to develop three smart cities, including Pondicherry and Nagpur.
But the biggest commitment has been made by China, which offered to invest over $100 billion in both smart cities and high-speed trains over five years.
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