eGov December 2018:

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DECEMBER 2018 | VOLUME 14 | ISSUE 21

Yogi Adityanath

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Smart Cities Catalysing Urban Space in Uttar Pradesh

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Uttar Pradesh has embarked on a journey to realise the dreams of millions of citizens inhabiting the country’s most populous state and home to some of the largest cities. The history of the state, which forms a significant part of the Great Plains of north India, is that of rise and fall of many cities since the prehistoric period. Kannauj, Prayagraj, Kashi, Mathura, Meerut are among the cities which, at one time or the other, have served as the engines of growth and prosperity. Some continue to do so even to this day. However, owing to the changing socio-economic and political dynamics in the state, the process of urban transformation relatively slowed down.

The state now pins its hopes on the Smart Cities Mission, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 25, 2016, to rejuvenate its urban centres by infusing a new vigour to reclaim their relevance in the national scheme. This special issue of eGov has the singular focus of capturing this urban transformation happening on the ground.

The cities in Uttar Pradesh are fired up with a new vision, of which building smart infrastructure around the aspirations of the people is an outward reflection. This special issue carries interviews of who’s who of Smart Cities including top decision makers, industry captains and other key stakeholders to help develop a better insight into the vision and plans driving the change in urban centres of the state.

This issue also carries a feature on Kumbh Mela 2019 at Prayagraj, which is set to bring forth the best of planning, organisational and administrative human traits to achieve a feat of this scale and size. Listed as an ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity’ by UNESCO in 2017, Kumbh is a reflection of faith of millions of pilgrims and Uttar Pradesh Government’s vision. The feature covers multitude of initiatives that have been planned to make this unique gathering of humanity a memorable experience for pilgrims and tourists.

This issue of eGov is also special as it will be launched at our 35th Smart City Summit, which is being organised jointly in association with Lucknow Municipal Corporation and Lucknow Smart City Limited. The summit with its innovative themes, will serve as a unique platform for Smart City stakeholders to huddle together and decide on the future trajectory of growth in Smart Cities.

I sincerely hope that this issue of eGov would help our readers get useful insights into the Smart City ecosystem and contribute its bit to introduce innovations in India’s urban space.

Looking forward to the invaluable feedback from our readers.

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DR RAVI GUPTA Editor-in-Chief, eGov magazine, and Founder & CEO, Elets Technomedia Pvt Ltd

CONTENTS

DECEMBER 2018 | Volume 14 | Issue 21

10 COVER STORY SMART CITIES CATALYSING DEVELOPMENT ACROSS UTTAR PRADESH

16 ANIL GARG Divisional Commissioner, Lucknow and Chairman, Lucknow Smart City Limited.

20 DR ASHISH KUMAR GOEL

Divisional Commissioner Prayagraj Division & Chairman Prayagraj (Allahabad) Smart City Limited

22 PRABHU N SINGH

20 DR NITIN BANSAL

Vice-Chairman Lucknow Development Authority (LDA)

Municipal Commissioner, Varanasi Municipal Corporation & Chief Executive Officer, Varanasi Smart City Limited

26 DR INDRAMANI TRIPATHI

Municipal Commissioner, Lucknow Municipal Corporation and Chief Executive Officer, Lucknow Smart City Limited.

28 DIVYA KUMBH BHAVYA KUMBH

34 ARUN PRAKASH Municipal Commissioner, Agra Municipal Corporation & Chief Executive Officer, Agra Smart City Limited

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36 SANTOSH

KUMAR SHARMA

Commissioner Kanpur Nagar Nigam and Chief Executive Officer, Kanpur Smart City Limited

38 LALIT JAIN Deputy Commissioner, Sirmaur, Himachal Pradesh

20 RAJESH KUMAR SRIVASTAVA

Municipal Commissioner, Bareilly Municipal Corporation and Chief Executive Officer, Bareilly Smart City Limited

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COVER STORY

Smart Cities Catalysing Development across Uttar Pradesh With the State government led by Yogi Adityanath determined to transform Uttar Pradesh (UP), Smart Cities Mission is emerging as a ray of hope to realise this dream.

As intensive use of smart solutions to develop smarter and sustainable cities in the country is gaining pace, UP is marching ahead in sinc with the time, observe Arpit Gupta and Ahmad Shariq Khan of Elets News Network (ENN).

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I

n recent times, led by Lucknow, numerous Smart City Missions of Uttar Pradesh have rolled out a number of citizen-engagement projects.

To boost the holistic ecosystem of the State’s infrastructure, the Uttar Pradesh Government has roped in many relevant stakeholders, expert urban planners and globally renowned teams of engineers to chalk out plans to transform State’s infrastructure and civic development.

Ever since being shortlisted as a Smart City in 2016 by the Central Government , Lucknow also described as the City of Nawabs , has made efforts to turn around its image and transform the city as a tech-driven city.

Till recently, representing a perfect blend of the old and the new, Lucknow has been known largely for its rich culture, cuisine, linguistic heritage, and tourism Noteworthy here are innovative developments on projects such as: Integrated Control and Command Centre Smart city surveillance system, smart mobility solutions, traffic management initiatives and initiatives such as Swachhch Lucknow.

Thanks to a proactive State establishment, playing the role of an effective facilitator, the city’s existing infrastructure is dotted with many symbols of innovations.

Right from the steadily consolidating infrastructure i.e. international airports, flyovers, upcoming metro rail, IT parks and real estate development to fast growing social infrastructure, every facet of urban housing is being given a makeover.

A close look offers an insight into how all along, these UP cities besides taking up the developmental plank in a big way, did not lose hold of their respective cities’ old charm and magnificence. Perhaps, this is the best feature of such an

innovative way of development.

A cursory glance at Lucknow Smart City Ltd, the designated agency mandated with the role of enhancing the profile of the city as a Smart City destination, offers an interesting insight.

Lucknow Smart City Ltd – A Vision of Holistic Development “While transforming the Lucknow City into a world-class Smart City, we are also focussing on developing this historic city into an International culture and heritage centre,” says Anil Garg, Divisional Commissioner, Lucknow and Chairman, Lucknow Smart City Limited.

As per the Vision Document of the Lucknow Smart City Ltd (LSCL), this special purpose vehicle (SPV) has been formed to give impetus to smart city project in the city and synergising solutions for citizens and city is its only motto.

“Lucknow Smart City aspires to leverage its culture and heritage by investing in inclusive and transformative solutions that enhance the quality of life for its citizens,” states the vision document, adding that “addressing the next generation of urban challenges doesn’t mean you have to overhaul the entire

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city. In fact, our approach toward making Lucknow a Smart City involves improving resource management by adding connectivity and intelligence within existing infrastructure”.

With the aforementioned guiding principle, currently, the focus and blueprint for Lucknow Smart City comprise strategic interventions on four focal points: Jeevant Lucknow (Liveable Lucknow): Providing better infrastructure facilities to citizens.

Sugam Lucknow (Mobility Lucknow): Improvising the newage transport and mobility factorising the daytoday life of citizens.

Swachh Lucknow (Clean Lucknow): Improving health, hygiene and sanitation practices for maintaining the wellness quotient for city’s citizens.

Samruddh Lucknow (Prosperous Lucknow): Harnessing on its strengths of heritage, culture, handicraft, cuisine and connectivity to encourage tourism by strengthening the support system that eventually facilitates employment (direct and indirect).

Elaborating on the focal points of the

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COVER STORY MAJOR SMART –CITY CENTRIC INITIATIVES State Data Centre ( SDC) State Data Centre ( SDC) - The State Data Centre is one of the Core Infrastructure Project implemented by the State. SDC is a centralised reservoir for data, information and services (Central infrastructure to build a central repository of information/data) for various departments of Government of Uttar Pradesh. SDC is operational since 6th August 2012. Various State Departments such as Basic Education, Home (Police) and Commercial Tax, Urban Development, Social Welfare, Rural Engineering, Forest, IT & Electronics etc. have been hosted in the SDC.

Digi-Locker Digi-Locker is an IT-enabled platform for issuance and verification of documents and certificates in a digital way, thus eliminating the use of physical documents. Making use of this facility, Indian citizens who sign up for a DigiLocker account get a dedicated cloud storage space that is linked to their Aadhaar (UIDAI) number. Organisations that are registered with Digital Locker can push electronic copies of documents and certificates (e.g. driving license, Voter ID, School certificates) directly into citizens

lockers. Citizens can also upload scanned copies of their legacy documents in their accounts. These legacy documents can be electronically signed using the eSign facility.

Online Ration Management System ( ORMS) Online Supply Chain management or Ration Management System is a portal based application developed by National Informatics Centre for Food and Civil Supply Department for monitoring and allocation of ration at various levels in a district. The applications are developed in such a way that there is a provision of creation of users at various level say Distribution branch, Supply Branch, Accounts Branch etc.

UPSRTC has implemented Intelligent Transport Management System (ITMS) Project for real-time tracking of a fleet of more than 10000 buses and having provisioning of other services for benefit of the passengers. These services include electronic ticketing, GPS based vehicle tracking and Passenger Information systems. Intelligent Transportation Management System (ITMS) is passenger-centric and has projected positive impact on the performance and profitability of UPSRTC.

Online Public Grievance Redressal System

The Crime and Criminal Tracking Networks and Systems, abbreviated to CCTNS, is a project under Indian government for creating a comprehensive and integrated system for effective policing through e-Governance.

Uttar Pradesh Police started This Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS) on trial basis. Under the project e-FIR system was introduced

Lucknow Municipal Corporation has developed an online public grievance Redressal system along with an integrated room for monitoring and taking the action on the grievances raised by the citizens on the portal or through the landline. At present, the LMC is dealing with complaints like sewerage, drinking water, Street Light, Tax, encroachment, street light etc.

Thereby, keeping into account the very fact that smart city solutions are ultimately meant to actualise the idea of ‘better cities’ from a holistic perspective encompassing social, economic and environmental aspects, Lucknow has undertaken many initiatives.

DECEMBER 2018

Integrated Transport Management System ( UPSRTC)

Network Systems( CCTNS)

Smart City proposal of Lucknow, says Garg: “Under Sugam Lucknow, Integrated Traffic Management System (ITMS) is under implementation, which led to junction improvement, intelligent traffic signals and traffic sensors. There is a provision of variable message signs, pelican crossing, augmentation on and strengthening of the existing command centre.”

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for citizens for filing the e-FIR for various types of crimes.

All city-wide solutions seem to have been envisioned with a view to transform the existing city into a developed, clean, green and citizenfocussed city with a modern economy and outlook anchored in its traditional heritage and culture.

Anil Garg, Divisional Commissioner, Lucknow and Chairman, Lucknow Smart City Limited, says: “We are also implementing Master System Integrator to integrate various smart solutions under the Control and Command Centre by M/s Fluentgrid in consortium with M/s BELL. This system will integrate all city specific IT-enabled services. Asked about the flagship

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Smart City Surveillance Project called ‘Drishti’, successfully implemented by Lucknow Smart City Mission, Garg adds, “ The project that has been acknowledged as one of the fastestimplemented projects for any police department in India, incorporating the latest technologies and a state-of-theart Command and Control Centre for 24x7 monitoring of CCTV cameras.”

Under project ‘Drishti’, a total of 280 cameras are operational at 70 locations across the city. Ever since its introduction, a unique Rs 40-crore worth project , which boasts of a total of 80 IP CCTV, Automatic Number Plate Recognition System (ANPR), Video Analytics, Mobile Surveillance System, Command Control Centre and Data Centre, has proved to be very useful to curb crimes in the city.

The project presently covers 70 junctions in Lucknow, with a dedicated focus on entry and exit points of the city, VVIP areas, and all critical and sensitive hotspots.

Plans are afoot to increase the number of cameras for the system. Another thrust area being focused by various State Smart City Missions is Solid Waste Management System (LMS).

Various Smart City missions , including Lucknow Municipal Corporation, have implemented ICT-enabled Solid Waste Management system in Lucknow City under the PPP mode.

It includes setting up of control and command centre for real-time tracking of garbage collection vehicles and user charge collection; designing route plan for all wards/zones to monitor and control timely service for each household. It also includes customer redressal mechanism for timely resolving all complaints received, MIS Reports generation, among others.

The project has a concept of

deployment of RFID tag smart road bins (sensor based) which will provide the real-time information of availability of waste in each bin on a real-time basis so that quick and prompt action can be made to dispose of the pending waste in all bins.

One of the essential components of the system is the generation of the energy from the waste collected from the city.

Similar initiatives are currently being implemented by various other smart city missions across Uttar Pradesh too.

Mentioning about a similar initiative by their mission, Santosh Kumar Sharma Commissioner Kanpur Nagar Nigam and Chief Executive Officer, Kanpur Smart City Limited, said: “Under our ICT based Solid Waste Collection-Transfer Station project, development works at Bhairav Ghat and Phoolbagh site have been completed. In Janta Nagar, and Chunniganj and Panki Sites, 50 percent construction work has been completed and remaining work is in progress.”

Likewise, an emphasis on promoting eco-friendly cities and the idea of renewable energy also figures among the key thrust area of various state missions. “One of the important components of the Bareilly Smart Cities Mission is to promote clean and green

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energy, for which there is a project of installing solar panels on the rooftops of government buildings in Bareilly Smart City,” says Rajesh Kumar Srivastava, Municipal Commissioner, Bareilly.

Further, along with solar-based water ATMs, plans are being mulled to develop and rejuvenate certain water bodies and parks as recreational spots which should enrich the social and cultural character of the city, he adds. In addition, an integrated system for grievance redressal is to achieve the goal of good governance using latest technology involving all stakeholders. It is an important thrust area being taken up by almost all State’s smart city missions.

Through this innovative mechanism, a citizen can freely and conveniently file a grievance, track the grievance lodged on all important platforms and receive a response to his satisfaction both in terms of quality and time.

Besides, the state government has also launched a mobile app for registering citizens’ grievances/suggestions. It is linked to the Jansunwai (IGRS, the Public Grievances registration and redressed portal ) portal of the government, where grievances/suggestions can also be registered through web (jansunwai.up. nic.in).

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COVER STORY city missions. The unique arrangement allows users to commute using bicycles which can be picked from a station near the origin and returned to any other station near your destination.

A fast and user-friendly interface has been provided for registering and tracking of grievance through mobile phones. Each grievance will be provided with a unique reference number. A citizen can use this reference number to track the progress of grievances, send reminders and also for giving feedback after disposal. After successful registration, the reference will be automatically forwarded to the concerned officer for redressal of grievances. Another related project worth mentioning is the Women Power Line 1090 --- an IVRS and App based dedicated service in Lucknow to empower women from all forms of harassment and ensure their safety in society.

It’s is a toll-free number for immediate help to the harassed women suffering from an anti-social behaviour or any other format of assistance required.

Private Sector – A True Friend Ensuring Growth Thanks to the active role played by the private sector in the development of various cities across Uttar Pradesh, the State’s cities, in many ways, are smart cities in the making.

Today, a lot of physical infrastructure -international airports, flyovers, upcoming metro rail, IT parks, real estate

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Women Power Line 1090 is an IVRS and App based dedicated service to empower women from all forms of harassment and ensure their safety in society. development and growing social infrastructure – are coming into existence, courtesy the private sector.

It’s deserves the credit of bringing along world-class technical know-how, skilled manpower and adding numerous other strengths in the State.

Lauding the role of private sector in the development of the State’s capital, Garg, the Divisional, Commissioner, Lucknow, says: “To further accelerate the city’s development and to fully harness the utility of private sector in executing various citizen-centric initiatives, we have promoted publicprivate partnerships in many sectors such as electricity supply, roads, expressways, and educational ventures.”

Public Bike Sharing project under PPP mode is being executed by many Smart

In Lucknow, M/s Zoom Car Pvt Ltd launched the public bike sharing on a pilot-basis in Gomti Nagar, at a cost of Rs 60 lakh . A similar project is also being implemented under Allahabad Smart City Proposals (Phase –II).

Another example worth citing could be of Reliance Jio -- that in consultation with Department of Police had installed approx 1100 cameras free of cost on its towers across Lucknow.

Likewise, Solar Traffic Control Signal System and Low Green Energy Solar Traffic Control Systems are being implemented under PPP modes.

Similarly, in Kanpur, the Skill Development Business and Economic Centre is being developed under the PPP model. The major economic hotspot will be located at the strategic location of Mall Road – at an area of 3.87 acres.

A case in point is the Kumbh Mela at Prayagraj to be held between January 15 to March 4 in 2019. For this, the State’s Department of Tourism has engaged a professional agency to conceptualise, plan and implement marketing activities for Kumbh 2019, including: Development of posters, booklets, brochures, tourist maps, print campaigns, social media management, radio and commercials and for media planning and services.

In essence, the Uttar Pradesh is emerging as a perfect example how private sector can be optimally engaged as partners of development and creating avenues of growth at any place. With a vision aimed at developing growth avenues and holistic growth for all, the Uttar Pradesh Smart Cities are catalysing development, inspiring one and all.

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POLICYMAKER’S PERSPECTIVE

The City of Culture on Course to Becoming Truly ‘Smart’ – Anil Garg, Chairman, Lucknow Smart City Limited Thanks to a number of path-breaking initiatives under implementation, the historic City of Lucknow is marching ahead to soon become a truly ‘Smart’ city, says Anil Garg, Divisional Commissioner, Lucknow and Chairman, Lucknow Smart City Limited, in conversation with Arpit Gupta of Elets News Network (ENN).

Anil Garg

Divisional Commissioner Lucknow and Chairman Lucknow Smart City Limited

“M/s Technosys Security

System Pvt Ltd has been selected for implementing the Integrated Traffic Management System (ITMS) project. Salient features of ITMS include Adaptive Traffic Control System (ATCS), Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system, Red Light Violation Detection (RLVD) system, Speed Violation Detection (SVD) system, No Helmet Detection and Triple Riding Detection etc” 16

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Give us an overview of the ‘smart’ projects undertaken by the Lucknow Smart City Limited.

Lucknow Smart City Limited is extending its citizen centric services through various delivery channels. We are implementing Integrated Command and Control Centre to integrate various smart citizen centric solutions. This system will integrate all city specific IT-enabled services. Integrated Central Command & Control Centre is under construction on the B.N road and the Master System Integrator (MSI) project has been awarded to M/s Fluentgrid in consortium with M/s BEL. Integration of services like UP 100, The Women Power Line 1090, Drishti etc, along with existing and proposed ICT Systems and Utility will also be done under this project. The gestation period for this project is approximately 8 months. Close monitoring by Lucknow Smart City CEO and the PMC will be the key to the success of this project.

Across ABD area, in six parks of Nagar Nigam, installation of Wi-Fi hotspots has been executed for providing free Wi-Fi

services to the citizens. Underground distribution cabling & relocation of transformers has been done by the DISCOM in the Hazaratganj area.

Upgradation of the substation in Kaiserbagh for SCADA system has been done. New transformers in Kaiserbagh area have also been installed. SCADA system for whole city of Lucknow is under consideration in collaboration with the Madhyanchal DISCOM. Under our ‘Solid Waste Management GPS & ICT for user charge collection’ project, Smart Community bins are being set up. Under this, door to door collection has been started in 107 wards.

100 per cent coverage has been achieved in 76 wards. Mobile Compact Stations have been installed at 30 locations across the city.

This work is being done in the PPP mode in collaboration with M/c Eco Green Private Limited and Lucknow Nagar Nigam. Waste to power plant at a cost of Rs 300 crores is under construction in this project. Waste to energy pellets and tilizers has already commenced.

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POLICYMAKER’S PERSPECTIVE

Solar Power plant in the PPP mode has already been installed at the Avanti Bai Hospital. This will reduce the electricity bills of the hospital in a big way. Waste water reuse systems are being installed in Balrampur hospital and Awanti Bai Hospital in the PPP mode. These will be local STP plants dedicated for the hospitals concerned. Smart roads and turnarounds works are being worked out

by Institute of Urban Transport in collaboration with Municipal Corporation. Tender for Smart road for Daliganj is under process by Nagar Nigam. Smart roads, utility duct is being also done in three metro station areas in the ABD and near ABD area in collaboration with Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC). Smart bus shelter project has been awarded to the M/s Ozone Overseas Private Limited. The work has started with the identification of locations by Nagar Nigam, city bus service and traffic Police officials. GPS instruments have been installed in the city buses for the Vehicle Tracking System (VTS). Two more electric crematoriums are being given to the city under 14th Finance commission, one at Baikunth

Dham and the other at Gulaila ghat.

Tell us a bit about the Smart City Surveillance Project.

This is one of the flagship projects, which is executed by Lucknow Smart City Limited. M/s Technosys Security System Pvt Ltd has been selected for implementing the Integrated Traffic Management System (ITMS) project.

Salient features of ITMS include Adaptive Traffic Control System (ATCS), Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system, Red Light Violation Detection (RLVD) system, Speed Violation Detection (SVD) system, No Helmet Detection and Triple Riding Detection etc. The RFP for this project was made under the able guidance of ADG Lucknow Shri Rajiv Krishna.

At present, the ‘DRISHTI’ surveillance project which has a total of 80 IP CCTV, Automatic Number Plate Recognition System (ANPR), Video Analytics, Mobile Surveillance System, Command Control Centre and Data Centre has proved to be very useful in curbing crimes in the city.

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At present, the project covers 70 junctions in Lucknow, with a dedicated focus on entry and exit points in the city, VVIP areas, and all critical and sensitive hotspots. Going forward with the ITMS project plans are in the offing to increase the number of cameras for the command system which will cover the whole city of Lucknow. This project will be also collaborating with the ‘Safe City initiative’ project which has been sanctioned for the district Lucknow by the Ministry of Home, Government of India.

How are you planning to develop Kaiserbagh area of Lucknow city in a new way?

With a view to preserve the rich heritage of the ABD area of Kaiserbagh, a number of projects are being implemented. The key components for retrofitting Kaiserbagh area include utility improvement, smart grid and infrastructure development for slums and urban poor. Work on building roads, community toilets, night shelters in the slums has been started by the Nagar Nigam.

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POLICYMAKER’S PERSPECTIVE

What are the unique features of Common Mobility Card introduced for Lucknow Metro?

Under this scheme, there are also plans to cover nullahs (open drains), strengthen and augment the existing drainage network under the dovetailing with AMRUT. For water supply, we aim to strengthen and augment the distribution network, increase use of smart metering, and use Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA).

UP Jal Nigam is doing this project worth 40 crores of water supply in the ABD area. For improving the sewer network of Kaiserbagh area, project of worth around Rs 300 crores is being implemented by the UP Jal Nigam.

Piped Natural Gas (PNG) supply work is being implemented in the Kaiserbagh area by the Green Gas Limited. They have started the work of survey after getting the NOC from Nagar Nigam as per the enabling government order in this regard.

The work of preserving and utilizing the heritage buildings of this ABD area like Chattar Manzil, Roshan Ud Dolah Kothi, Kothi Gulestaan-e-eram and Darshan Vilas Kothi has been given to INTACH. MoU has been signed with INTACH to give the concept work and develop it further as the implementing agency after getting due approvals from the state culture department. For

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electricity in the ABD area, much work has been to improve underground distribution cabling and relocate transformers, and at the same time increase the use of smart metering by the MVVNL DISCOM. Further SCADA system in collaboration with MVVNL discom is under consideration.

What challenges do you experience in implementing the smart city projects and how do deal with multiplicity of organizations/ departments?

The projects envisaged as part of Smart City Project require funding and approval from state and other sources, hence better coordination among various departments like Health, Transport, Development Authority, State Archeological Directorate and PWD is vital to the success of plan implementation. Citizens’ participation is a pre-requisite for the success of smart city projects. Role of CEO smart city and the PMC is most important for the successful execution of the various projects which have started. Regular monitoring, day to day basis interaction with the various stakeholder departments and the citizens will be the key to the final success of this project.

Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC) and Lucknow Nagar Nigam (LNN) joined hands by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for facilitation of payment of house/property taxes through ‘GoSmart’ card of Lucknow Metro at Metro Stations. The main objective is to propagate the idea of smart travel for which LMRC is making every possible effort for facilitation of additional customer services for the benefit and convenience of the Metro commuters.

LMRC will facilitate the collection of tax payments of Nagar Nigam from its customers at its Metro Stations which will enable passengers to use their “GoSmart Card” to make payments for the property tax at ticket counters. LMRC will then forward the collections along with information to the Lucknow Nagar Nigam.

How do you visualise the role of PPP in the city’s development?

Thanks to the role played by the private sector in the city’s development, today’s Lucknow, in many ways, is a smart city in the making, with its rapidly growing physical infrastructure like the new international airport in the making, flyovers, upcoming metro rail, IT parks, sports stadiums, real estate development and growing social infrastructure such as state of the art hospitals and educational institutions. In a bid to further accelerate the city’s development and to fully harness the utility of Private sector in executing various citizen-centric initiatives, we have promoted publicprivate partnerships in many sectors such as Public Bike Sharing project, is being executed by M/s Zoom Car Pvt Ltd. on a pilot-basis in Gomti Nagar.

Energy Efficient Street Lighting Project has been awarded to EESL on PPP mode. Waste water reuse, solar power plant is also being done in PPP model.

Smart bus shelter is another project in this category.

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13th DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION SUMMIT DECEMBER 2018 NEW DELHI

AWARDS 2018

POLICYMAKER’S PERSPECTIVE

Cementing Prayagraj’s Traditional Connect with Technology Coupled with widened road, redesigned traffic junctions, sculptures, LED lights, painting on the walls, flower pots and plantation in every nook and corner of the city, Prayagraj city gets a ‘smart’ makeover on the road to become a truly Smart City, says Dr Ashish Kumar Goel, Divisional Commissioner, Prayagraj Division & Chairman, Prayagraj (Allahabad) Smart City Limited, in conversation with Arpit Gupta of Elets News Network (ENN).

Dr Ashish Kumar Goel

Divisional Commissioner Prayagraj Division & Chairman Prayagraj (Allahabad) Smart City Limited

Summary of Smart City Proposal: l Total Project Cost: 2239.28 Cr l Area Based Development:

1670.64 Cr l PAN CITY: 568.64 Cr

“A state-of-the-art ultra modern Integrated Control and Command Centre is being developed which will be used for crowd management and surveillance services during Prayagraj Kumbh, 2019.”

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DECEMBER 2018

How are you leveraging ICT for the benefit of citizens of Prayagraj?

A number of ICT-enabled projects, aimed at bolstering the image of the Prayagraj as a truly world-class city, are currently being executed by Prayagraj (Allahabad) Smart City Limited. One of the major noteworthy projects is the ongoing work on Integrated Command and Control Ceantre (ICCC) – a project being implemented at an estimated cost of 246.62 Crore is on the verge of completion.

We floated the ICCC tender in mid of April 2018 and within one and a half month we had awarded the project. Thus, this is perhaps the fastest processing of any ICCC project in the country. The project will be going live very soon in the early December. We are not only intelligent targeting traffic management and city surveillance but we are also targeting Solid Waste Management. We are installing GPS in all our all solid waste management disposal vehicles for their real time tracking and monitoring through ICCC. Our GPS vehicle tracking system (500 SWM Vehicles of Nagar Nigam) is also being set up at a cost of Rs 1 Cr. Further, we are doing GIS mapping and tagging all over the city properties including the larger area of the Prayagraj

city and development area so that these can be appropriately taxed, thereby giving us more revenue to spend on citizen welfare schemes.

Tell us about your other Smart -City centric initiatives?

We have identified a lot of plots for developing parks, parking and social facilities. Whichever open are we are finding in the city, we are removing encroachment from them and we plan to develop parks, parking and sports facilities. We are laying emphasis on greenery in our existing parks. We are investing heavily on our signature park – Azad Park – to make it theme-based park. Also, our Open Air Gym project, being pursued in 12 Parks across the city is under progress too. This is being realised at a total cost of 1.41 crore.

We are doing some municipal property development projects on PPP model. We are developing night markets at two places, where the youth of the city can spend some quality time. We are also exploring that how to improve service delivery on the basis of ICT backbone.

Further, plans are afoot to set up 200 Water ATM (100 in Kumbh Mela Area).

This project being executed at a cost of 10 Crore is scheduled to be completed soon.

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Further, about 20 per cent of development work has also been completed in our Day Parking and Night Market project which is being actualised at a cost of 4.63 Cr. The project covers development works from Maharana Pratap junction to Dhobighat junction. On similar lines, Night Market at Kamla Nehru Road is being built at a cost of 1.35 Crore. Along with this, Junction improvements’ (within ABD area) design and drawings have also been submitted now. We are developing Smart Roads across the city and have developed some Smart Roads in the Kumbh area also.

Under this, electricity lines have been removed from the middle of the roads.

We are developing drainage on both sides and pavements with green belts and streetlights. We have widened most of the roads by removing encroachments.

We are beautifying the city by installing sculptures. We have done extensive work on redesigning of traffic junctions and crossings. Almost, 45 main junctions and crossings have been redesigned. As a result, traffic jam in the city will be alleviated and this initiative will take care of traffic jam in the city for the next two-three decades. Coupled with intelligent traffic management system, redesigning of traffic junctions and crossings, and widening of most of the trunk roads, we should be able to fulfill the traffic needs of the city.

Tell us about your efforts on imporving the existing sanitation and drainage sytem in the city.

Prayagraj is already way ahead in the sewerage system. Under ‘Namami Gange’ programme, we are revamping the sewerage system of the city and enhancing our city-wide sewage projects.

Many new and uncovered areas are now being covered. Due to the upcoming Kumbh Mela, we have accelerated the pace of all such developments to meet the deadline. I am happy to state that the laying of sewer work in the city has been completed before the Kumbh and some work of household connections is pending, which will be finished after the

POLICING PLAN FOR PRAYAGRAJ KUMBH,2019 Over 1,000 cameras will be deployed to monitor ongoing activities in the city and the Mela area. A security and surveillance work plan is being prepared in consultation with the experts. A detailed action plan for disaster management is also being developed. 4 Police lines including 3 female police stations and 62 police outposts are under construction. 40 fire fighting centres, 15 fire out posts and 40 watch towers to be built during Mela period.

Kumbh Mela. Pryagaraj will probably be the first city to have full coverage of sewer in the main city. Now, we are reaching out to the outer suburbs of the city. In the next two years, sewerage network will be strengthened and sewage treatment plant would be established across the city.

Development of Smart Public Toilets is also an important project currently being executed by Smart City Limited. Around 200 Smart Public Toilets are being installed across the city. Under this, a total of 81 Toilets from Smart City Mission’s (SCM) funding, and 154 Toilets from ‘Namami Gange’ project’s funding are being actualised. The total cost of the project is 36 Cr. So far, work orders for 47 Toilets have been issued.In Prayagraj, there are many low-lying areas so we are also working on a master drainage framework that will address drainage issues of such regions. In the Summary of Smart City next two years, many new areas will be covered and in the near future we will be able to make the integrated drainage management system of the city. A DPR pertaining this is being prepared.

What are the newly identified projects currently being pursued?

There are many projects that have been identified recently. These include: Annapurna canteen (under Annapurna Bhojanalaya yojana of Govt of UP) at an estimated cost of 66 lakhs. Another important project is the development of smart roads, and streetscape (approximately 78 Km length) whose feasibility is currently being assessed. We are also determined to take up the development of vending zone and vegetable markets - such as on

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Khuldabad, Stanley Road, Bakshi bandh etc. Though, at present, it is out of ABD area, we will take this up with a justification that it would reduce congestion within the ABD area too.

Further, under Allahabad Smart City Proposals (Phase –II), noteworthy is our bicycle sharing system being implemented under PPP Mode - which is a form of the public transport system allowing the users to commute using bicycles which can be picked from a station near the origin and returned to any other station near your destination.

Under ICT based solutions for improvement in service delivery and citizen convenience, work is under progress for One City One Card, to ensure city wide common card system..

Elaboate on how ‘Paint My City’s capamaign is being used to beautify the city.

Under our ‘Paint My City’ campaign, with the help of more than 500 artists, 20 lakh sq foot of area is being painted with beautiful paintings. Our ‘Paint My City’ campaign, is aimed at highlighting various forms of street art projects pertaining to the following aspects: l Cultural Diversity and Heritage of Uttar Pradesh and Allahabad l Religious, Spiritual and Scientific connotation of the Kumbh l Mythological background of the

Kumbh l In addition, at an estimated cost of Rs 500 lakhs, various social facilities for citizens are currently being promoted.

Further, we have identified construction of toilet in High Court as one project worth taking up.

DECEMBER 2018

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POLICYMAKER’S PERSPECTIVE

LDA Changing the Urban Landscape of Lucknow Our efforts are to computerise all the aspects of the housing scheme such that all the property information is online. We will facilitate every segment so that everybody can fill up the form online and no human intervention or the error in data feeding will be eliminated. The fees will also be collected online, says Prabhu N Singh, Vice-Chairman, Lucknow Development Authority (LDA), in conversation with Arpit Gupta of Elets News Network (ENN).

Prabhu N Singh

Vice-Chairman Lucknow Development Authority (LDA)

“The property segment of LDA is already digitised.

Most of the properties are registered online with us. Now for the first time we are going to start online booking of the property which will be integrated with our property database.”

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DECEMBER 2018

Which key initiatives have been taken up by the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) for the development of the city?

LDA has taken a number of steps for the development of the city. We have acquired land, developed residential colonies with proper amenities like community centres, sports infrastructure, sports stadium, etc. We have planned and developed electricity sub-stations. We have also developed sewage treatment plants. We have developed a water supply network and a drainage system. As far as the infrastructure projects are concerned, there are some big projects undertaken for the development of Lucknow city as a whole. Chak Ganjaria City (CG city) is a project where we are developing a whole new city on modern lines on the government land. We have also developed sports complex on Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode. A cricket stadium and a football ground are part of this complex. It also has a multi-sports activity centre. There is also a sports academy proposed to be built in the same sports complex. The cricket stadium is complete and one T20 match has already been organised on this ground besides, Ranji matches.

We have also developed group housing plots in our various projects, which have been auctioned to the private players.

Some projects have also been developed by the LDA on the group housing plots like Riverview apartments, Parijat, Janeshwar enclave, Smriti apartments, Srishti apartments etc spread all over the city. We have developed another sports complex under the Kanpur Road Yojana.

We have developed a mini stadium in Gomti Nagar area which is housing tennis and lawn tennis courts etc besides the badminton academy.

We are also providing commercial spaces.

A lot of malls have come up at these places. We have also provided land for building hotels and office complexes for mixed land use. The Vibhuti Khand area is one such area. It has been developed as a commercial pocket. We have also developed Indira Gandhi Pratishthan which is basically a convention centre. It has air conditioned halls and auditoriums.

All the infrastructure of these centres are being maintained by the LDA. Keeping in view the demand of people in Gomti Nagar Scheme, and development of ‘Amar Shaheed Path’ joining the Faizabad Road and Kanpur Road by the

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Central Government, LDA introduced an ultra modern scheme – Gomti Nagar Extension.

Please throw some light on the progress of Riverfront Development project and the heritage zone of Lucknow.

We are entrusted to work on the Riverfront Development project, which was being maintained by the Irrigation Department earlier. We have been providing special incentives to those farmers whose lands have been acquired

by LDA for various projects. We are giving them 2X3, 3X3 Chabutaras through which they can earn their livelihood.

We are developing Old Lucknow and some other locations as heritage sites.

The development of Qaiserbagh Heritage Zone in the heart of the city near Qaiserbagh Baradari with beautification of Begum Hazratmahal Park, Subhash Park, Laxman Park and Parivartan Chowk is underway.

We are working on the Jai Prakash international Convention Centre comprising of facilities like sports centre, aquatic centre, museum and a hotel. We have also developed the heritage zone of Lucknow. Husainabad is one such example. Many parks along the Gomti River have also been developed by LDA. Hathi Park, Nimboo Park and Buddha Park are already very popular with the citizens. We have developed Asia’s largest park, Janeshwar Mishra Park, in Gomti Nagar Extension, Lucknow. Lohia Park was also developed in the Gomti Nagar on the similar lines.

What is the scenario of demand and supply of housing in Lucknow and how LDA is contributing to the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY)?

The demand has been accessed by the Government itself. We have a good

“Many parks along the Gomti River have also been developed by LDA. Hathi Park, Nimboo Park and Buddha Park are already very popular.” inventory of multistory housing projects in the city. Our devout schemes have houses for every segment like Economically Weaker Section (EWS), Low Income Group (LIG), Middle income group (MIG) and High Income Group (HIG). Some of the HIG and MIG houses are still lying vacant which shows that there is a huge demand for EWS/LIG houses. We are soon going to start the housing scheme under PMAY whose booking and registration will be completely online. We will facilitate every segment so that everybody can fill up the form online and no human intervention or the error in data feeding will be eliminated.

The fees will also be collected online The biggest target for constructing houses under the Prime Minister’s scheme in Uttar Pradesh has been assigned to Lucknow Development Authority. Here 48,000 houses are required to be constructed under the Pradhan Mantri

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Awas Yojna – Housing For All (Urban) scheme in coming four years.

Also, more pace is given to planned development by engaging private builders like Ansals, Unitech, Eldeco, Omaxe etc by inviting them as a high-tech / integrated developer.

What digital innovations have been introduced by the department online and how it is enhancing the efficiency of the department?

The property segment of LDA is already digitised. Most of the properties are registered online with us. Now for the first time we are going to start online booking of the property which will be integrated with our property database.

LDA has taken the initiative of registration of its properties —freehold, mutation, old documents, receipts, everything is going to be online. We want our every process online so that people don’t have to visit our offices for every work and the working / data of LDA becomes transparent to the public.

To extend the public facilities, multidimensional website has been launched which provides a brief of all the departmental functioning as well as online facilities like enquiry of registrations/ allotments/dues/ deposits/ lotteries/ tenders/ press releases, etc.

DECEMBER 2018

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POLICYMAKER’S PERSPECTIVE

Varanasi—The smart

makeover of India’s spiritual soul

Dr Nitin Bansal

Municipal Commissioner, Varanasi Municipal Corporation & Chief Executive Officer, Varanasi Smart City Limited

“Varanasi needs to retain its ancient and spiritual characteristics as tourists mainly visit the city because of the Kashi Vishwanath temple and world famous Ganga ghats.

Varanasi being a heritage city, efforts are being made to promote Banaras Gharana’s cultural legacy.”

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Varanasi, called the spiritual capital of the country, has also earned the distinction of being Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s constituency. Set for a big smart city makeover, the city is implementing Smart City projects in a mission mode to transform the city into a modern livable world-class tourism and pilgrimage destination without losing its ancient and spiritual characteristics, says Dr Nitin Bansal, Municipal Commissioner, Varanasi Municipal Corporation & Chief Executive Officer, Varanasi Smart City Limited in conversation with Arpit Gupta of Elets News Network (ENN).

Please give us an overview of the Smart Cities Mission in Varanasi, the nature and scope of development work under it.

The total estimated cost of the projects proposed under the Smart Cities Mission in Varanasi is Rs 2,520 crores, which will be spent on developmental works like rejuvenation of Ganga ghats, building smart infrastructure and e-governance.

While a budget of Rs 1,659 crores has been allocated to the area based development projects, for pan-city solutions there is a budget of Rs 618 crore. Out of this, various projects worth around Rs 1126.45 crores are at various stages and, as per the government guidelines, have to be completed by 2020. As on November 22 this year, a total of 13 projects worth around Rs 293.70 crores have been awarded; eight projects worth around Rs 70 crores have been tendered; and 12 projects worth around Rs 763 crores are in the DPR stage.

What are the key focus areas for Varanasi Smart City Limited?

There are six key focus areas which will form the basis of smart city development work in Varanasi. These include: SURAMAY KASHI - To leverage the Old city’s rich cultural, spiritual, religious and heritage component.

NIRMAL KASHI - Making the city clean, green, livable and environment-friendly to provide healthy and quality life to the citizen.

SURAKSHIT KASHI - To ensure safety and security to all (especially children, women and the elderly).

SAMMUNNAT KASHI - To promote local entrepreneurship, ease of doing business and employment for various skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled groups.

EKIKRIT KASHI - To provide SMART (Simple, Moral, Accountable, Responsive, Transparent) services for citizens and tourists through use of ICT.

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SANYOJIT KASHI - to provide seamless mobility to all.

The aim is to develop the city as a world-class pilgrimage and tourism destination to enrich the experience of the visitors and citizens alike. To transform Varanasi into a livable and modern city, rejuvenation of ponds, temples, river ghats is underway.

Creation of green spaces, stadiums and makeover of heritage structures is also being taken up. Varanasi Smart City Limited is committed to creating smart, sustainable infrastructure and providing clean energy options to the residents.

How do you plan to decongest the narrow lanes of Varanasi which has a very high population density?

To reduce traffic congestion and travel time in the city, Area Based Development (ABD) has the provision of smart bus shelters, e-rickshaw, cycle-sharing while the pan city development plan will have multi modal public transport system supported by Intelligent Traffic Management System unified with Integrated Command and Control Centre for city surveillance.

To address the issue of stray cattle, the development and construction of Kanha Upvan (Gaushala) at Chhitauni village has been undertaken. The Rs 10.58 crore project, which was awarded on April 17 this year, has been making swift progress with 55 percent of work already completed. A Rs 19.91-crore project for improvement and upgradation of 8 road intersections, which is scheduled to be completed by May 2019, has also been awarded.

A public bike sharing project, construction of multi-level two wheeler parking at Godowlia Chowk and the Urban Revitalisation of Road and Junction improvement Project in ABD Area (Phase-II) at a cost of Rs 159.27 crores are also under different stages of implementation.

What are your plans to retain the spiritual and ancient characteristics of the city while doing the smart city makeover?

Varanasi needs to retain its ancient and spiritual characteristics as tourists mainly visit the city because of the Kashi Vishwanath temple and world famous Ganga ghats. Varanasi being a heritage city, efforts are being made to promote Banaras Gharana’s cultural legacy. Development and rejuvenation projects for Old city and Sarnath areas and river front development along the Ganga and Varuna rivers have also been taken up to enhance the experience of living in the city.

Which key initiatives have been taken in the area of e-governance?

Ekikrit Kashi is an ICT-based citizen services solution by use of portal and mobile app integrated with multi-

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purpose smart card. Digital Wallet – Kashi Card Platform integrated with PayGov of Government of India is already in the conceptualisation stage.

The portal and mobile App will have services for the citizen with key features to facilitate tourists and pilgrims. This initiative will help users in following ways: • Utility bills can be paid online and anytime by citizen, it will reduce the hassle to visit the government offices.

• Citizen can lodge their complaint and grievances online and check the status of its resolution. Social Media integration can used to lodge and provide resolution online.

• Tourist will benefit as all the information regarding places interest, hotels, shops and booking can be done online.

• The central portal/mobile app will give all city related information and services to citizen.

DECEMBER 2018

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POLICYMAKER’S PERSPECTIVE

LSCL – Transforming Lucknow into a HighTech City

Dr Indramani Tripathi

Municipal Commissioner Lucknow Municipal Corporation (& Chief Executive Officer Lucknow Smart City Limited)

While transforming Lucknow City into a world–class Smart City, we are also focussing on developing this historic city into an International culture and heritage centre, says Dr Indramani Tripathi, Municipal Commissioner, Lucknow Municipal Corporation & Chief Executive Officer, Lucknow Smart City Limited, in conversation with Arpit Gupta of Elets News Network (ENN).

What are the focal points of the Smart City proposal of Lucknow?

The pan-city Smart City proposal of Lucknow comprises a number of components under the focal points of Sugam Lucknow and Jeevant Lucknow.

Under Sugam Lucknow, an Integrated Traffic Management System (ITMS) is under implementation, which will lead to junction improvement, intelligent traffic signals using traffic sensors.

“There are smart solutions for existing vehicle parking spaces, an electronic ticketing system and ICT for city bus services.”

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DECEMBER 2018

There is a provision of variable message signs, pelican crossing, augmentation on and strengthening of the existing command centre.

The Smart City Surveillance System will have installation of additional CCTVs, networking, augmentation and strengthening of existing command centre.

There are smart solutions for existing parking spaces, an electronic ticketing system and ICT for city bus services.

There is also provision for a GPS-based bus tracking system (automatic vehicle tracking system), CCTV cameras on board, on board display panels, automatic fare collection system and bus operation command centre, smart bus shelters, passenger information system, ticket vending machine and water ATMs.

Tell us about the major challenges in executing the citizen-centric initiatives across the city?

Smart City Mission Guidelines, which govern the implementation of the mission projects in various cities, are being treated as bible by all stakeholders, including the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).

These guidelines lay special emphasis on the SPV structure, delegation of power to the SPV and its functionaries.

However, the cities are facing challenges in adhering to these guidelines and ultimately have to resort to the traditional ways of approval and implementation of projects.

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Which are the ongoing projects aimed at conserving the rich heritage of the city?

We are transforming the city into an international culture and heritage hotspot. Concerning this objective, the other important projects include our ongoing development works on an International Culture and Heritage Centre at Chhattar Manzil; a tourist information centre at Sibtainabad Imambara; façade lighting and restoration of Lal Baradari; Archaeological Research and Heritage Centre at Roshan-ud-Daula Kothi; a public library at Kothi Darshan Vilas; Heritage Conservation Institute at Kothi Gulistan-e-eram; a Cultural Club at Rifa-e-Aam Club and restoration of Morris Market near the Qaiserbagh Crossing.

Besides, we have started the Lucknow Awadh Walk on Thandi Sadak. We have also created an Awadh Point – which is a centralised recreational space at the Begum Hazrat Mahal Park.

For making a positive difference in the air quality of the city, we have adopted a tech-enabled approach. Under this, across the city, various environment sensors shall be deployed to inform about the prevailing environmental conditions and send data to the integrated control system where real-time data resides. The same shall be made available to various other departments and applications for decision making. The information is relayed instantaneously to signage – large, clear, digital-display screens – which let citizens know the prevalent environmental conditions. At present environmental sensors are deployed at: Dayanidhan Park, Nishatganj Bridge, Polytechnic Circle and UP Dial 100 office on Shahid Path.

Tell us about the sanitation centric projects being executed in Lucknow city.

Under our sanitation centric efforts, we have started door-to-door collection of garbage through vehicles which are installed with GPS. We have also started using sensor-based smart road bins and smart community bins under our Smart Community bins programme. The project is being carried out at a cost of Rs 18.40 crore. Under this, door to door collection started in 107 wards. Worth mentioning here is that 100 percent coverage has been achieved in 76 wards.

To improve the drainage system, we are creating sewers along nullahs and are also strengthening the existing network. Under our plans of covering of nallahs, we are strengthening the entire network. This is part of our ongoing project whose DPT has been prepared so far, at a project cost of Rs 197 Crore.

Some salient features of the initiative include: l The project was proposed with expectation of funding under AMRUT scheme. l DPR for drainage project limited to SCM funding is prepared by LMC l DPR will be referred to IET, Lucknow for technical appraisal. l Post appraisal of DPR RFP will be floated for selection of contractor.

Jal Nigam will be the implementing agency.

Please throw some light on the Smart Road project.

The Institute of Urban Transport has been awarded work of preparation of DPR for road and junction improvement in the ABD area for 50 km road stretch. The proposal envisaging improvement of following roads has been submitted for: l Daliganj intersection l Rani Laxmibai Marg l B N road, Ashok Road l Rana Pratap Marg to Lohia path l Cantt Road

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l Charak Chauraha l Rana Pratap Marg to Nation College

tri junction path

l Hussainabad road from Nibu park to

Hardoi Road Work on the Daliganj intersection has been started.

With the help of these digital initiatives, what future plans do you have?

Lucknow Municipal Corporation plans to achieve various things in the next five years through digital initiatives such as: l Bus utilisation increment by 20 percent (Current: 153.6km/bus/day) l Number of road cutting cases reduction by 50 percent on account of better coordination among various departments through One Lucknow Smart City Management System (Average number of cases in last three years: 91, with an average affected road length of 76 kms] l Traffic on One Lucknow Smart City website/portal to be increased by 50 percent (No such integrated website/portal exists and current annual traffic on LMC website: approx. 430,000) l Increment on a number of app users: 2.5 lakh users (No such integrated app exits and current LMC PGRS has 9,200 users) l Increment in house tax collection efficiency by 12.5 percent (Current Level: 75 percent with collection of Rs 143 crore (2014-15) l Timely response to citizen grievances as per charter: 99.9 percent (current: 99.7 percent) l Increment in revenue generation from international tourists: 25 percent [current: Rs 30 crore) l Rs 0.88 crore saving in fuel consumption (public transport) by improving traffic condition on account ITMS and ICT solutions for bus system (current fuel efficiency: 4.4 km/kg of CNG).

DECEMBER 2018

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SPECIAL FEATURE

Prayagraj Gears up for Devotional Experience of Kumbh 2019 To offer a hassle-free devotional experience to millions of people set to throng Prayagraj next year for a holy dip in the Sangam during Kumbh Mela (January 15 - March 4), the administrative authorities are resolutely ensuring no stone remains unturned, writes Arpit Gupta of Elets News Network (ENN).

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As part of the great endeavour, a large number of initiatives are being undertaken by the Government of Uttar Pradesh to make it a smooth and enjoyable experience for people of all ages and regions

Divya Kumbh Bhavya Kumbh •

Kumbh Mela – The Vision, The Initiatives A number of special steps are being undertaken to make the upcoming Kumbh Mela a memorable experience for all. Some of the important initiatives that deserve a mention include: To upgrade facilities at the Tent City, 4,200 premium tents are planned to be set up in the Mela area for tourists. These tents will be built and operated on a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) basis.

With regard to public accommodation, a capacity of 20,000 beds is being developed. A massive development is being done for the first time for Kumbh Mela. These camps will have all the basic amenities and security arrangements.

To accommodate 10,000 people, a Ganga Pandal will be built around the Mela. It will be used for organising cultural, spiritual and official programmes.

State-of-the-art facilities and arrangements will be ensured in this pandal. Four convention halls, with modern and contemporary decor, will be built in each zone. Cultural programmes, exhibitions and artistes’ gatherings will be organised in these halls. A Pravachan, or lecture hall will also be built in the Mela area for organising religious and spiritual programmes.

As part of ensuring ‘Swachh Kumbh’, 1,22,000 toilets will be set up. A robust ICT-based system will be deployed to monitor and ensure timely cleaning of these toilets. A proper onsite sludge management, cesspool operations, and odour management technologies will be deployed to keep Mela area clean and

The Kumbh Mela at Prayagraj, the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna and the mystical Saraswati rivers, will begin from January 15 and conclude March 4, 2019.

• Considered one of the largest gatherings of people in the world, more than 100 million devotees are expected to attend the almost two-month-long Kumbh Mela • According to the state government, 12 million pilgrims are expected on January 15 (Makar Sankranti), 5.5 million on Januray 21 (Paush Purnima), 30 million on February 4 (Mauni Amavasya), 20 million on February 10 (Basant Panchami), 16 million on February 19 (Maghi Purnima), and 6 million on March 4 (Mahashivratri).

ensure an enhanced pilgrim experience.

In solid waste management, we are upgrading the Solid Waste Management Plant to a cetain capacity. To improve sanitation under our ‘Sundar Kumbh’ drive, more than 20,000 dustbins with liner bags are to be deployed for solid waste management. Over 11,000 sanitation workers will be employed for street sweeping and Solid Waste Management (SWM). In total, 40 compactors and 120 tippers will be used for the disposal of waste materials.

“We are also focusing on developing popular temples in Prayagraj. Under this initiative, strengthening and widening of approach roads to the temples is in progress. Augmentation of electricity systems in and around temples is also being done. For improving civil supplies during the Mela, ration cards will be provided to ensure access to civil supplies for over 10 lakh Kalpvaasis during the Mela period. Apart from these, permits will be issued for providing access to civil supplies for Akharas and religious organisations in the Mela area,” Vijay Kiran Anand, Kumbh Mela Adhikari, Prayagraj Kumbh told ENN. Asked about steps being taken on enhancing facilities on the logistics-front, he said: “Logistics play a critical role in a city’s development and its economic growth. Taking note of this aspect, there is upgradation work currently underway

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of nine railway stations, development of nine Road Over Bridges (ROBs) and expansion of six Road Under Bridges (RUBs) is also underway.”

A new terminal is being constructed at the Allahabad Civil Airport. National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is rebuilding and upgrading Allahabad – Pratapgarh Highway, Raebareli – Allahabad Highway, Varanasi – Allahabad Highway.

The Inland Waterways Authority of India is building jetties at five places and planning to start point-to-point ferry services for pilgrims.

Key Infrastructural Projects A number of ongoing infrastructure projects are currently in full swing. Some of the major ones include -- Public Works Department (PWD) projects, Uttar Pradesh State Bridge Corporation (UPSBC) projects, Irrigation Department projects, Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam projects, Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam projects, Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited projects, and Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation projects.

Public Works Department (PWD) projects: With an allocated Budget of Rs 1,388.28 crore by the PWD, strengthening and widening of 116 roads across Prayagraj is in progress. Further,

DECEMBER 2018

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SPECIAL FEATURE

“

• • •

As many as 1.22 lakh toilet to be built.

Jetties to be run between 5 bathing ghats to ferry pilgrims Record 12 Cr pilgrims, including 20 lakh NRIs, representing more than 75 nationalities, and 10 lakh domestic pilgrims expected.

• All heads of Missions of foreign countries invited • The Indian Railways to use technologies like artificial intelligence, data and video analytics to manage the crowds in the Mela area. Under the plans, Railway Ministry is going to use IBM Intelligent Video Analytics will for crowd control at stations and its adjoining areas during the Kumbh Mela.

• Kumbh Rail Seva, a new mobile App, will soon be launched to disseminate information to train users.

• The Railway Ministry is also mulling plans to deploy 800 special trains for the mega event. strengthening and widening of 34 roads across the whole city is being done by the Allahabad Development Authority.

Under this, redesigning, refurbishing and beautification work is being carried out at 32 traffic junctions across the city. The budget allocated for these specific assignments is Rs 298.35 crore.

Uttar Pradesh State Bridge Corporation (UPSBC) projects: With an allocated budget of Rs 501.89 crore, UPSBC is constructing 10 road-over bridges (ROBs).

Irrigation Department projects: The development of Ghats or, the river banks at seven places and riverfront conservation work are also being carried out in full swing by the city’s Irrigation Department. Rs 47.61 crore budget has been allocated for it. Renovation work at multiple hospitals, development of new

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wards and purchase/upgradation of medical equipment is being done. A Rs 73 crore budget has been allocated for it.

“

For the first time

We have put in place many IT-backed mechanisms to monitor projects’ progress. Under an ‘Online Project Monitoring System’ (PMIS), being managed through a portal, the PMIS portal has been designed where Program Evaluation Review Technique is adopted.

Making use of this, the details of all the ongoing projects are monitored on a real-time basis.

Vijay Kiran Anand Kumbh Mela Adhikari Prayagraj Kumbh

Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited projects: Upgradation and strengthening of existing power infrastructure and electrical system is in progress. Rs 81 crore budget has been allocated for it.

for it. A special endeavour is being made in terms of methodology to monitor various projects’ progress to ensure they adhere to quality norms.

“We have put in place many IT-backed mechanisms to monitor projects’ progress. Under an ‘Online Project Monitoring System’ (PMIS), being managed through a portal, the PMIS portal has been designed where Program Evaluation Review Technique is adopted. Making use of this, the details of all the ongoing projects are monitored on a real-time basis,” Anand shared with ENN.

Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation projects: Development works for bus depots and construction of passenger halls etc, are in progress. A Rs 7.11 crore budget has been allocated

A third party inspection agency has also been contracted by the Mela Authority with 36 resident engineers deployed to inspect and report on all ongoing projects for quality monitoring, he added.

Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam projects: Augmentation of water supply system and improvement of drainage and sewerage system is being done. A Rs 136.10 crore budget has been allocated for it.

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Actilligence for sustainable transformation of cities Actilligence is our fully integrated product platform used to implement Integrated Command Control and Communication (ICCC) solution for smart cities. Actilligence facilitates quick and seamless deployment of city command centers with numerous complex integrations, says Murali Krishna Gannamani, Managing Director and CEO, Fluentgrid Ltd, in conversation with Elets News Network (ENN). commitment to support our solutions.

Tell us something about Fluentgrid and its core strengths.

Fluentgrid is an Energy Utility and Smart City solutions company with industry standard COTS software products. We are proud to be facilitating the global movement towards smart grids and smarter cities for a sustainable planet and happy people. We have proven solutions for utilities and cities that churn out actionable intelligence to drive seamless transformation. Our solution offerings are based on an advanced technology framework that allows seamless integration of multiple applications, services and devices in a future proof manner, with lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and faster Return On Investment (ROI).

Backed by ISO certified process frameworks, CMMI L5 compliance, agile solution delivery models and unflinching customer support; we implement our solutions in a time bound manner with least disruption to ongoing business and long term

What are the innovative Smart City focused solutions that Fluentgrid currently offers? What is your role in Lucknow Smart City?

Murali Krishna Gannamani Managing Director and CEO Fluent grid Limited

Seamless transformation of cities with smart and sustainable solutions Rapid urbanisation, rising aspirations of citizens for a better quality of life and competition among cities to attract more investments and retain skilled

Smart Solutions powered by Smart Things, enabling Smart Governance via ubiquitous Smart Interfaces

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INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE

people are the trends fuelling smart city movement. Essentially, a Smart City entails uninterrupted flow of utility services through coordinated instrumentation, participative governance through citizen involvement and gaining deeper insights into city data for continuous improvement.

Our solutions span the entire spectrum of smart city ICT ecosystem including multi-utility management, smart metering and smart grids, e-governance, city ERP, IoT enabled intelligent infrastructure, advanced analytics and integrated command and control center. We deploy our Smart City products to deliver these solutions faster and in a sustainable manner.

FluentgridActilligence is the leading COTS product that accelerates delivery of integrated command and control center (ICCC) solutions for smart cities.

It comes pre-configured for industry leading smart city solutions from our partners across various urban domains.

It also facilitates easy integration of third-party solutions and city applications with open APIs. The product’s platform architecture is inherently scalable to ever increasing users, devices, integrations, data and processing demands of a growing city.

Actilligence facilitates quick and seamless deployment of city command centers with numerous complex integrations.

We assist in preparing a blueprint for the city of future with sustainability in mind, help chart an optimal road map considering the immediate needs and resource availability and deploy the best fit solutions in a cost effective manner with quick returns.

What is your role in Lucknow Smart City?

FluentgridÂŽ appreciates the city administration of Lucknow in their

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DECEMBER 2018

Fluentgrid Smart City Solutions Portfolio

efforts towards an ambitious journey of developing Lucknow City under Smart Cities Mission. We got the mandate to implement an Integrated Command and Control Center (ICCC), GIS and Citizen Engagement platform besides smart elements like environmental sensors and variable messaging display.We are also setting up the physical infrastructure for ICCC data center and disaster recovery on cloud for the Lucknow Smart City.

360-degree view of urban governance.

A City Command, Control and Communications Centre breaks the information silos across various departments and acts as a single source of information for all civic functions and is the backbone of any Smart City.

The Smart City solution will be deployed with an integrated approach to coordinate all essential services in a city. Our solution modernizes the digital and physical infrastructure of the city to make delivery of citizen services more efficient, useful, innovative, and exciting. Lucknow city has envisaged common command center application platform which integrates with the existing e-governance applications developed by various departments for a

The Smart Cities Mission has been one of the largest government investment in urban technologies to address India specific challenges and opportunities. In future we will see large scale operationalisation of these technologies thus helping cities become more resilient and citizen centric. At the same time city administrators will use the data and information generated for evidence based planning and decision making.

How do you see the future of Smart City based initiatives in India and what role do you see for Fluentgrid in the larger picture?

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utility applications to manage field works. MWM can be used to effectively assign and monitor tasks to field staff or drones helping improve productivity on the field.

Fluentgrid with its advanced technology platform that leverages big data analytics and machine learning will be at the cutting edge of urban technology innovations in India,

Smart Utility Products is one key domain of Fluentgrid. Tell us more about your key offerings.

Fluentgrid Smart Utility product suite is the result of our sustained endeavor at supporting utilities in curtailing their revenue losses, ensuring customer delight and improving operational efficiency.

These products are built from scratch for utilities making them easier to quickly configure and integrate without extensive customisation. The product suite has been constantly evolving with field lessons learnt over a period of two decades, by offering pragmatic solutions to most demanding utilities across diverse regions.

What ‘New Energy based solutions’ Fluentgrid currently offers?

Fluentgrid CIS (Customer Information System, earlier known as mPower CIS) ensures total control of utility commercial operations with seamless integration of service connection life cycle (covering new service connection, disconnection, reconnection, etc.,) with

meter-to-cash life cycle (covering metering, billing, payments, credit collection and revenue accounting). nxter is the cloud solution for energy retailers, who would like to stay lean and nimble yet grow aggressively and expand into new regions to quickly capitalize on opportunities. nxter relieves them from the burden of coping with EDI technology jargon and empowers the back office staff with a simple and intuitive interface to go about doing their daily tasks.

Fluentgrid CRM (Customer Relationship Management, earlier known as mPower CRM) offers an integrated customer communication tool set for continuous engagement with utility consumers. The features include multi-channel contact center, social media monitoring, push notifications and bulk messaging.

Roadmap for the product includes robotic process automation to reduce staff attrition on routine tasks and artificial intelligence to stay connected with consumers, just when needed.

Fluentgrid EAM (Enterprise Asset Management, earlier known as mPower EAM) addresses the pressing needs of most utilities for an integrated suite of enterprise applications that work seamlessly with other operational systems in the utility.

Fluentgrid MWM (Mobile Workforce Management) integrates with all the

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Fluentgrid Insight (earlier known as mPower BI or mPower Insight) leverages Hitachi’s Pentaho advanced analytics platform with MapR Apache Hadoop system for big data architecture. Fluentgrid Insight also powers RPS, our analytics based closed loop revenue protection solution paired with mobile workforce management functionality.

The Utility Command Center (UCC) is our recent invention to offer situational intelligence to utilities for informed decision making with centralized command. Salient features of Fluentgrid UCC include: l Centralised surveillance with video analytics to trigger alerts on abnormal events l Accept revenue, consumer and asset related alerts from Insight and convert them to incidents l Manage incidents through standard operating procedures l Computer aided dispatch and monitoring of incidents via MWM l Stay connected with consumers through CRM

These days exchange of technical knowhow is facilitated by global collaborations in many fields.

Are you also adopting such a practice? If yes, tell us more about the players you have tied up with.

Fluentgird strongly believes in the synergies with strong partners and the resulting technology and innovation. In order to provide the best solution to its clients Fluentgrid engages in several global and domestic partnerships. Some of the technology leaders that we partner with are Hitachi, ARM technologies and Tom Tom.

DECEMBER 2018

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POLICYMAKER’S PERSPECTIVE

ASCL—Turning Agra into a

Truly Tech-driven City

Focused on not only preserving the traditional and historic traits of the Agra City, but also improving those with the help of technology is one motto being aggressively pursued by Agra Smart City Limited (ASCL), says Arun Prakash, Municipal Commissioner, Agra Municipal Corporation & Chief Executive Officer, Agra Smart City Limited, in conversation with Arpit Gupta of Elets News Network (ENN).

Tell us about the scope of work and size of the area mandated under the Smart City Mission in Agra.

Arun Prakash

Municipal Commissioner, Agra Municipal Corporation & Chief Executive Officer, Agra Smart City Limited

“The proposed project includes the development of existing Fatehabad road in Agra. The Fatehabad road has more significance than merely serving as a connecting road to the city. ” 34

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Agra has been selected as smart city second round out of 27 winning cities.

At present, the area under Agra Smart City ranges from Jama Masjid to Fatehabad Road – covering a total area of 2250 Acres. In other words, this represents 16 per cent of the entire Agra region that currently stands at 4100 Acres.

Presently, there are nine wards covered under Area Based Development (ABD), with a population of 1.46 Lakh persons, representing 9.26 per cent of the entire city’s population.

Agra’s smart city proposal totals to around 2133 Crores , out of which 1365 Cr is envisaged to be done using Smart City funds and PPP and rest 768 Crores through convergence, which comprises of 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 other projects.

Integrated Command and Control

Center (ICCC): The City Command Center will be the central repository for management and monitoring of all ICT based Smart City components such as Solid Waste Management system, Intelligent Traffic Manangement Systems, Wi-Fi, , CCTV surveillance, digital signages, Internet of Things (IoT) sensors (environment, etc), and all other smart city applications will be integrated, and centrally monitored, tracked and managed from the Operations Command Centre. The ICCC shall be ergonomically designed with area for video wall, operators, offices, conference room, all other amenities, etc.

The ASCL has identified certain Smart ICT intervention required to make the city smart. The broad Scope of work, functional requirements and technical specifications have been identified.

Master System Integrator (MSI) M/s Bharat Electronics Electronics Limited is implementing ¬the ICT interventions: Future Integration Scope • Smart Parking • Smart Street Lighting • Water SCADA • Smart Water Meters • Sewerage • Storm water Drainage

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• E-Medicine/Health • E-Education • Disaster Management • Grievance Management • Smart Poles • Any other sensors/systems

work, flower market. The total cost of the project is Rs 3.14 Cr.

Data Centre and Disaster Recovery MSI will setup data centre, disaster recovery centre and data backup storage facility at the CCC or Service Provider (SP). MSI will create synergies between the ICCC by using an integrated architecture.

City and Enterprise GIS Solution The broad objective of the work is to develop a comprehensive Instigated Enterprise GIS Application for Corporation for planning, management and governance in context of entire functioning of the organisation.

CCTV-based video surveillance shall be security enabler to ensure public safety MSI shall install CCTV cameras at various locations across the city for surveillance along with Public Address System and Variable Message Signboard (VaMS), Emergency/ Panic Box System, etc. Intelligent Traffic Management Solution MSI will install CCTV cameras at various locations across the city for traffic management and enforcement system like RLVD/ ANPR, speed detection, etc.

What are the major projects initiated under the Smart Cities Mission (SCM) in Agra?

Under our holistic vision towards bolstering the image of Agra city as a truly tech-driven city, a number of noteworthy projects are being implemented) across the length and breath of city’s ABD region. As part of our unique initiative aimed at preservation of Urban Morphology walk, 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

Our project aimed at enhancing the image of ‘Street Vending Zones’ (a schematic Proposal for ABD Area) entails providing facilities and designated place for the street vendors as well as tourist to enhance the experience of Agra streets and food, flowers and other markets.

As part of this project, the following locations have so far been identified: l Near Amar hotel, towards Vibhav Nagar . l Vishal Mega Mart, Fatehabad road l Basai Sabji Mandi, towards 100 ft road Under our ‘Junctions Improvement’ project, being executed at an estimated cost of Rs 6.97 Cr, Junctions at Bijli Ghar, Agrasen Taj view Crossing, Basai chowki Crossing, TDI Mall Junction, Hotel Marriott Crossing, Jaypee hotel junction and Tiraha Junction (Taj east) are being given a complete makeover. The work at these locations includes: new signages, pavement marking, median, roundabout, landscaping, signals, channeliser, etc.

Also, in a bid to beautify the area around the city’s major landmark, i.e, the Taj Mahal, the project of tree Illumination at Taj east and west gate is in full swing. The total Project cost is Rs 6.56 Cr. Further, the work is in full swing on streetscaping and beautification of Fatehabad Road in ABD area. We understand Fatehabad road has much more significance than just being considered as a connecting road to the city. Once completed, the project will serve the following objectives: l It would relieve congestion across ABD area and beyond. l It would provide better linkage to the radial arterial roads. l It would provide improved access to Taj Mahal. l It would improve connect between

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the new urban nodes outside/nearby ones.

As part of our project on façade improvement of select houses along Daresi Road, being executed at a total project cost: Rs 0.97 Cr, we have identified approximately 50 traditional houses situated on the famous Road, which is considered to be older than the famous Taj Mahal. The whole area around the road has a lot of traditional houses which required façade improvements.

Another important project being implanted under Agra Smart City Mission is the Solar Installation on Renewable Energy Service Company (RESCO) mode. Being implemented at a total Project cost of Rs 26.54 Cr, the implementation of this project will lead to significant reduction of conventional fuel and help in the reduction of carbon emissions also. This would also lead to a substantial reduction in power bills of the building owners. For this, we are working with the understanding that 3 MW solar power plant would be required to generate 4.4 MU of Electricity and 24,000 SqM area is required to set up 3 MW solar power plant. With this focus, we are moving ahead with our solar energy policy for the ABD area. sOther major projects are providing 24/7 water supply integrated with SCADA systems and sewerage system in entire ABD area.

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DECEMBER 2018

35

POLICYMAKER’S PERSPECTIVE

KSCL –Transforming Kanpur into a Futuristic City A number of ICT-enabled projects, aimed at bolstering the image of the Kanpur city as a truly world-class city, are currently being executed by Kanpur Smart City Limited, says Santosh Kumar Sharma, Commissioner, Kanpur Nagar Nigam and Chief Executive Officer, Kanpur Smart City Limited, in conversation with Arpit Gupta of Elets News Network (ENN).

Elets News Network (ENN).

Santosh Kumar Sharma

Commissioner, Kanpur Nagar Nigam and Chief Executive Officer, Kanpur Smart City Limited

“For the construction of Integrated Command & Control Center (ICCC) and Data Centre, site has been allocated. Civil work is in full swing for the Data Centre, and development has also started for City Portal and GIS portal.”

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DECEMBER 2018

Tell us about the ICT-enabled citizen-centric projects currently being undertaken by Kanpur Smart City Limited.

A number of ICT-enabled projects are currently being undertaken by Kanpur Smart City Limited. As part of our Rain Water Harvesting (RWH) project, which is to be clubbed with Waste Water Recycling (WWR) project, government buildings in Area Based Development (ABD) have been identified by us.

Under our plans for underground wiring and strengthening of transformers, Kanpur Electricity Supply Company (KESCO) is preparing a Detailed Project Report (DPR).

Such projects are to be funded through the Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS). In a bid to strengthen our water supply network, Jal Nigam is to prepare a revised DPR.

Further, working towards building energy efficient solar rooftop, govenment buildings in the ABD area have been identified by us. Also, plans are in the offing to construct energy efficient intelligent solar LED street lights that will provide better visibility and safety in the streets. This particular assignment is to be executed by KMC. Our LPG/ PNG smart metering project will connect the household in the ABD area with the PNG lines. PNG lines will ensure no leakage and better monitoring of usage.

It will also ensure non-stop supply of gas supply. At present, surveying is in progress in the ABD area.

Under our plans to establish Open Gyms (OGs) that will be operated manually and help visitors remain fit, six OGs have so far been proposed. Under the unique initiative, equipment proposed to be installed are: air walker, exercise bikes, leg press, chest press, hip twister, sky walker,

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Integrated Command And Control Centre (ICCC) Components of ICCC l Smart City Operation Centre l Smart Parking Solutions

• • • • • •

Smart City Management Portal Integration of Urban Utilities Air and Water Quality Monitoring Integrated Traffic Management System City Surveillance System Free Wi-Fi hotspots Digital advertisement boards

Current Progress l Site Survey Completed.

Milestone-1 which included hardware deployment plan, Communication plan, Information Security and Business Continuity, Sensitisation and Training Plan, Risk Management plan has been conditionally approved. l For Electricity supply in Data Centre and ICCC, civil work started from Nov 1, 2018 for establishment of HT Panel/LT Panel, Meter Box, and generator.

etc.

While development work of Open Gym in Kargil Park, Mahapalika Park, Geeta Park and Water Park has been completed, 50 percent work in Nana Rao Park site and 5 percent work at Ramleela Park has so far been completed.

What are the sanitationrelated projects currently being implemented under Kanpur Smart City Limited?

Under our plans to overhaul and strengthen Kanpur city’s sewer network, construction of New Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) and Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETP) have also been identified. An STP of 30 million litres per

day (MLD) capaicity is to be constructed at a cost of 213 crore at Panka. The executing agency for this is Jal Nigam.

Pertaining this, an STP Tender was awarded to Shapoorji Pallonji. CETP of 20 MLD will be constructed at Jajmau at a cost of Rs 419 crore. Noteworthy is, CETP Tender was opened on 20-11-2018.

Under `Namami Gange’ (Integrated Ganga Conservation Mission) for Ganga Riverfront Development, Engineers India Limited (EIL) has completed Work in nine out of 10 Ghats. Ganga Barrage Ghat work is under progress too. Our project under Sanitation-Community Toilets programme has also been completed now.

Under our ICT-based Solid Waste Collection-Transfer Station project, development works at Bhairav ghat and Phoolbagh site have been completed. In Janta Nagar, Chunniganj and Panki Sites, 50 percent construction work has been completed and the remaining work is in progress. In Krishna Nagar, 15 percent construction work has been completed.

Sutarkhana and Kidwai Nagar sites have to be changed. The proposed features of this include: Proposal for eight transfer stations – in six zones of Kanpur Nagar Nigam (KNN), zero spillage on the ground, transported by covered container vehicles to waste to energy processing plant, integrated rooftop solar panels for harnessing energy for local use and a smart advertising signage for revenue generation.

Which are the major PublicPrivate Partnerships (PPP) projects currently being executed?

The major noteworthy project being implemented under PPP model is the Skill Development Business and Economic Centre. For this, an Expression of Interest (EoI) has already been floated. The major economic hotspot will be located at the strategic location of Mall Road – at an area of 3.87 acres. Some of the clubbed projects, include: Skill Development and

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Business Centre at Chunniganj, Commercial and Business Centre and Economic Development Cell, knowledgesharing centre, economic cell art gallery, entrepreneurial centre, incubation centre, exhibition hall and business and convention centre.

Under our PPP project aimed at constructing public toilets and bins, tenders have been floated for three sites namely — Raina Market, Vegetable Market, Parade and Chunniganj Tiraha.

Under this, Smart Toilets (STs) with modern amenities and commercial spaces like ATMs, Water ATMs, vending machines etc, are being established. It is noteworthy that with an estimated cost of Rs 22 lakhs/unit, installation of 25 public toilets (250 seats) in the ABD area is to be executed under PPP mode. There is a provision of additional Floor Area Ratio (FAR) for commercial use with a profitability index of 4.5 years, giving a yield of 11.2 percent on Capital Invested (CI). EESL is executing the development work of intelligent LED street lights. As part of our plans for building smart travel stations, digitally-enabled travel stations are being prepared. Concerning this, a DPR is under preparation.

How Kanpur Smart City Limited is working for popularising e-learning among city’s students?

As part of our ‘e-pathshala’ endeavour, six schools have been selected in the ABD area of the city. Regarding this, a tender has been floated too and a Pre-Bid Meeting was held on Nov 15.

The initiative under which, project selection is based on Quality and Cost Based Selection (QCBS), is aimed at improving teachers’ face- to-face interaction with students and ensuring that their maximum interaction with students is through digital platforms.

Similarly, there are many more plans that will be executed in the coming times.

DECEMBER 2018

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POLICYMAKER’S PERSPECTIVE

Sirmaur’s Tryst with Smartness A tele-medicine service has been started in the far flung areas to provide the medical facility of consultation with doctors sitting in top hospitals of the country like Apollo, says Lalit Jain, Deputy Commissioner, Sirmaur, in conversation with Gautam Debroy of Elets News Networks (ENN).

Lalit Jain Deputy Commissioner, Sirmaur Himachal Pradesh

“MyDC Android app has been developed by us, which in itself is a great step forward towards ensuring the development of Sirmaur district.

It helps people to contact the administration directly .”

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DECEMBER 2018

You have recently developed MyDC app. Tell us about this mobile app in detail.

pilgrimage centres of the district; and important web links have been provided on the app.

MyDC app provides the opportunity to refer the grievances directly to the district administration, which is then forwarded to the department concerned for resolution through this app. All messages, announcements made by the deputy commissioner of Sirmaur are available on this app.

How does MyDC app help in government functioning?

To benefit the visitors/tourists of other states visiting Sirmaur district, important information like details of the rest houses and hotels in the district; phone numbers of important departments; tourist, historical and

This app will help the government as well as general public through the following upcoming features: • Black Spot options: It will help to mark the landslide prone areas, broken roads as well as the problem of the backward areas to the department concerned.

• Anti-Drug options: As we know that many youngsters have been caught in addiction of drugs, so this option will help to trace the places

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•

or areas from where drugs are supplied to fulfil our motto against the narcotics – “Destroy What Destroys You”.

The links of government sites is already provided in MyDC app and in future, the government services which will be delivered in the district will also be available on this.

Tell us about some of the latest IT initiatives that you have taken for the development of Sirmaur.

MyDC Android app has been developed by us, which in itself is a great step forward towards ensuring the development of Sirmaur district.

It helps people to contact the administration directly.

The website of Mahamaya Balasundari Ji has been developed and facilities like online prashad, online bhandara booking and online donation have been made available on this.

People residing in different parts of state as well as the country can access this website from anywhere.

A tele-medicine service has been started in the far flung areas to provide the medical facility of consultation with doctors sitting in top hospitals of the country like Apollo, etc.

Various departments/officers/staff are availing the benefits of IT while doing their routine works by exchanging reports through emails and WhatsApp groups, etc. It is helping them utilise their time more judiciously and reducing the manpower required to do a work. It is also a step forward towards making the government offices paperless.

What steps are being taken by the Municipal Council Nahan to make Nahan a smart city?

Nahan city is governed by the Municipal Council Nahan, which was the second municipality of our country. As the norms to become a smart city are required to be fulfilled, the council is developing the basic infrastructure like road connectivity, construction of lanes, parks, and carrying out beautification

works.

How is Sirmaur different from other districts of Himachal Pradesh?

The climate of Sirmaur is very pleasant as compared to other districts. The district is surrounded by two states— Haryana and Uttarakhand. The Pajhota, which is known as the Peach Valley, also falls in district Sirmaur. The Fossil Park in Suketi, Sirmaur, is the first park in Asia from where fossils as old as 8.5 million years can be discovered. Shri Renuka Ji Natural Lake of Sirmaur is the biggest lake of Northern India. .

What are the biggest challenges for development in Sirmaur?

Nearly 90 percent population of Sirmaur district resides in rural area and the biggest challenge in such areas is the connectivity of roads, lack of drinking and irrigation water supply. To bring agricultural produce to the market to get reasonable price is one of the biggest problems faced by the farmers.

Lack of such professional/technical institutions which make the youth

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“The climate of Sirmaur is very pleasant as compared to other districts. The district is surrounded by two states—Haryana and Uttarakhand.

The Pajhota, which is known as the Peach Valley, also falls in district Sirmaur.” self-reliant and the provision of job-oriented education are also among the areas of challenge.

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POLICYMAKER’S PERSPECTIVE

Bareilly Smart City Ltd Taking the City to the Next Level As the country is moving towards digitisation in every field including education and governance, the citizen in Bareilly need a platform to upload and acess digital content. A Digital Library is proposed for all the people in the city who don’t have access to reliable content, says Rajesh Kumar Srivastava, Municipal Commissioner, Bareilly Municipal Corporation and Chief Executive Officer, Bareilly Smart City Limited, in conversation with Ahmad Shariq Khan of Elets News Network (ENN).

What is your vision for developing Bareilly as a Smart City?

Rajesh Kumar Srivastava

Municipal Commissioner, Bareilly Municipal Corporation and Chief Executive Officer, Bareilly Smart City Limited

“One of the important components of the Smart Cities Mission is to promote clean and green energy, for which there is a project of installing solar panels on the rooftops of government buildings in Bareilly Smart City”

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DECEMBER 2018

New Bareilly’s vision addresses real-world issues and challenges the citizens and the city are facing. Specifically, it considers how emerging transportation data, technologies and applications can be integrated with existing systems across a city—helping both city and the citizens achieve goals for safety, mobility, sustainability, and economic vitality in an increasingly complex, interdependent and multimodal world.

Tell us about the projects identified under the Smart Cities Mission to realise this vision?

The components of Bareilly Smart City are divided in two parts which are Area Based Development (ABD) interventions and pan-city interventions. The total area covered under ABD is 1,270 acres. For the development of the city, the following projects were identified: l Development of an Integrated Urban Infrastructure l A digital library l Development of a handicraft centre

which will including a resource centre, design research and skill centre along with an exhibition and sale facility l A Central Business District l Provision of Rooftop Solar panel on government buildings l Retrofitting of government schools with smart classes and associated infrastructure for e-shiksha l Decentralised STP’s at various locations in the city l Decentralised STP’s at various locations in the city l GIS-based mapping and database digitisation and integration l Smart advertisement boards l Solar-based water ATMs l Construction of smart public toilets l SCADA system for sewerage scheme with 70 MLD STP l An accelerator/incubation centre for promoting start-up and entrepreneurs l An accelerator/incubation centre for promoting start-up and entrepreneurs l An accelerator/incubation centre for promoting start-up and entrepreneurs l Waste management (dairy/nonrecyclable plastic/flower waste) system l Slum re-development policy based on trading of Floor Area Ration (FAR)

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l Open gyms in various parks l Solid waste storage and processing

What steps have been taken to improve road infrastructure to decongest the city?

Identification and redevelopment of the primary, secondary and tertiary road network would be done within the ABD area for the smooth, safe and smart traffic management. Further, the concept of utility ducting will be implemented which would not only organise the service piping but enable its control and management through the Command and Control Centre. We have identified a project for the redevelopment of traffic junctions in order to organise, improve the functionality, safety and efficiency of the junctions and to augment the aesthetic and functional aspect.

Some major prime commercial spaces are being taken up by unnecessary and unorganised parking in the city. The provision of organised multilevel parking at various locations throughout the ABD area of the city along with good commercial centres in the area would unlock the commercial value of the space along with meeting the parking requirement.

Please tell us about the handicraft centre being planned to promote local arts and craft of the city.

Zari Zardosi, bamboo furniture, ‘surma’ and ‘manjha’ industries are the prominent handicrafts of the city. The smart city is focusing on augmenting the skill level of the workers as well as providing them good infrastructure to develop their products and access larger markets. A Handicraft Promotion centre is proposed for this purpose which will comprise of spaces for the promotion, uplifting and managing the economical and quality aspects of the handicraft industry based in Bareilly.

Which digital initiatives have been

planned for the city for improved transparency and efficiency in service delivery?

As the country is moving towards digitisation in every field including education and governance, the platform to upload and access digital content for all the citizens in Bareilly is needed as well. Digital Library is proposed for all the people in the city who don’t have access to reliable content for their personal growth as well as the growth of the city.

Smart classes are the modern way of learning. To further promote this concept, a project for retrofitting of government schools with smart classes and building associated infrastructure for e-shiksha has also been taken up.

Through the GIS-based mapping and database digitisation and integration project, maps, utilities and services and other resources would be digitalised so as to make planning of various projects easy and functioning of the city more efficient.

Management of waste has emerged as a big challenge for most Indian cities. What steps have you been taken by Bareilley Smart City in this direction?

A ‘smart city’ is developed upon numerous distinct elements and waste

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management is one of these vital aspects.

Bareilly being a culturally-rich city, a lot of flower waste is generated. Hence, ways to treat the flower waste are suggested.

Solid waste management being one major subject in the city’s overall development, it is identified as a prominent project. The solid waste is proposed to be segregated, stored and processed. Door-to-door waste collection as well as a landfill waste disposal site has been proposed to be built under this project

Which projects have been planned to ensure a sustainable future for the city and its residents?

Bareilly has many natural lakes/ponds. It is proposed to develop and rejuvenate certain water bodies and parks as recreational spots which should enrich the social and cultural character of the city. One of the important components of the Smart Cities Mission is to promote clean and green energy, for which there is a project of installing solar panels on the rooftops of government buildings in Bareilly Smart City.

In order to make clean drinking water accessible to people in public places across Bareilly, installation of water ATMs and using solar power for the treatment of this water to make this service sustainable and environment-friendly, is proposed.

DECEMBER 2018

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INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE

AVEVA—Making Smart

Cities Future Ready

Keen to target a wide spectrum of markets in India, AVEVA is helping industries which are looking forward to achieving the next level of operational efficiencies to get ready for future, says Sayaji Shinde, Business Head – Smart Cities and Infrastructure, Asia Pacific, Aveva in conversation with Elets News Network (ENN).

Give an overview of AVEVA’s products and solutions?

Sayaji Shinde

Business Head – Smart Cities and Infrastructure, Asia Pacific AVEVA

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NOVEMBER 2018

Schneider Electric’s industrial software business and AVEVA have merged to create a new global leader in engineering and industrial software. It is the power of two – the coming together of two successful industrial software companies. The combination brings together AVEVA’s design, engineering and construction capabilities for capital assets along with Schneider Electric’s industrial software business that covers the gamut from simulation to asset lifecycle management and supervisory control software that helps our customers to

manage their operations, processes, people and site.

How is AVEVA driving digital transformation in the country?

The digital transformation has become an imperative for almost all industries across the globe and we are seeing huge interest in Indian Industries as well. We are keen to target a wide spectrum of markets in India like oil and gas, power, food and beverage, life sciences, marine, process industry and

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infrastructure projects like smart cities, airports, sea ports, industrial townships, water and even multisite data centres.

Today, most of these industries are looking forward to achieving the next level of operational efficiencies to get ready for future, which needs competitiveness and responsiveness to meet challenges like rapid response to issues and incidences, adhering to stringent statutory regulations, meeting customer SLA’s, maximising asset utilisations and bringing down the operational expenses.

Traditionally, infrastructure industry has been implementing silo solutions to achieve departmental or process specific automation to drive better operational efficiencies and these investments have certainly delivered huge benefits so far. However, the silo solution implementations have many gaps which give rise to human interventions as the information is fragmented and contributes to inefficient operations.

We at AVEVA believe that digital transformation is all about connecting people, systems, process and sites which allow our customers to eliminate the value leaks in their processes and operations through integration of systems with people and people with process cutting across geographically spread infrastructure assets, resources and systems. For example, water system of a city may have multiple water treatment plants, sewerage treatment plants, drainages, pump houses, reservoir operations, and sensors which are managed through independent control systems. Our solutions integrate all these on one common platform which allows us to connect people, systems, and processes across multiple sites. Thus, this digital transformation not only establishes the single view of entire water system of the city but also allows management of interconnected incidences and events, process, human resource management and

accountability through SOPs.

How are your solutions helping clients across the country to analyse critical data for infrastructure?

Well, to analyse the critical data the first step is to have an ability to acquire data in its native format. The digital transformation of infrastructure is a complex process as in infrastructure management one needs to deal with data, which not only originates from IT solutions and IOT sensors but also from Operational Technologies (OT) like control systems. Unless and until, the transformation strategy has explicit design consideration for integration with different sources in native protocol and storing these data’s in their native format, one cannot acquire critical data easily.

We are adopting a disruptive innovation by bring our two decades of Industrial automation experience and platform technology, which creates a solid foundation for digital transformation of Infrastructure projects. Our platform technology allows conversion of IT, OT and IOT data on same platform with real time integration with desperate systems, which make it possible to access and manage critical data in real time. Once data is acquired we use advance analytics to analyse critical data to find patterns, correlation, events and anomalies, etc.

What projects are you working on for the Indian Smart Cities?

We are offering City Command and Control Centre platform technology to smart city projects in Indian market. We have won NRDA’s smart city tender in consortium with ILFS which has been successfully deployed. NRDA’s City Command and control Centre is now acknowledged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a role model for rest of the India. The reason is in its unique

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capabilities. This is the first operational city command and Conrol Centre which has successfully deployed IT and OT conversions by integrating water treatment, sewerage treatment, Energy SCADA along with IT applications like LED street lights, Bus Rapid Transport solution, Intelligent Traffic Management Solutions, CCTV surveillance, etc.

The uniqueness of this design is that the CCC users not only monitor the water systems, energy systems, traffic, law and order, street light operations etc but also can control these application from city command and control centre platform and these capabilities improves the operational efficiencies further. As of today, none of the other deployment of city command and centre has these control capabilities spanning across IT and OT solutions.

Apart from NRDA we have also won Rajkot smart city tender along with BSNL and look forward to having few more successes in next 4-6 months.

What are your plans for the next year?

With great success in smart city implementation we are planning to increase our foot print in other sub segments like airports, sea ports, industrial townships, water and even multisite data centres. Many customers in these segments are aggressively looking for digital transformation. Particularly water industry in India is going through massive transformation and we offer very advanced technology to monitor real time water network pressure, which solves the most critical issue faced by the water industry, which is managing water pressure across transmission and distribution lines. This technology will allow conservation of water and energy usage. It also allows detection and prevention of leakages resulting in reduction in NRW. These technologies are very unique to India and other Asian markets and will be largely benefitted by them in times to come.

NOVEMBER 2018

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INDUSTRY SPEAK

Dura-Line—Catalysing Innovations In a typical smart city framework, all technologies, networks, and processes should be scalabe, which means, these should have the capability to be expanded in future, if need so arises, says Anil pande, Director Dura-Line India Pvt. Ltd., in conversation with Ahmad Shariq Khan of Elets News Network (ENN). to the Premise (FTTP) turnkey services include designing, supply and deployment of all elements of passive network. We also provide Acceptance Testing (AT) services. All of our product offerings are well suited to the needs of the Smart City ecosystem.

Permanently Solid Lubricated HDPE Ducts ‘Silicore’ that enable deployment of fiber optic cables by blowing with air.

Tell us about the USPs that sets Dura-Line apart from the rest of the competition?

Going forward what role do you envision for the company?

In a typical Smart City ecosystem, the requirement of high speed internet is paramount to connect various IOT devices for which fiber optic cables are needed at several places for delivery of key services in a Smart City ecosystem.

Besides the need for fiber would keep evolving in the future as the IoT devices proliferate. The same applies to power requirement.

Anil pande

Director Dura-Line India Pvt. Ltd

Our unique product offering addresses this ever-increasing demand for broadband internet & power in Smart Cities.

Please give us an overview of Dura-Line india Pvt. Ltd. Dura-Line is part of Mexichem, the largest global manufacturer of fiber optic cable ducting solutions and one of the largest chemical and petrochemical companies in Latin America.

Operating in India, our end-to-end services incorporate route designing and engineering, supply and laying of ducts, fiber optic cable blowing, splicing, termination, link testing, etc.

Our Fiber to the Home (FTTH)/ Fiber

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DECEMBER 2018

We have designed a system which enables citizens to avoid any re-digging of ground to lay fiber optic cables & power cables. Even after 10-15 years, if one wishes to expand the fiber or power cable network or repair a fault, then using our specially-designed duct utility corridor this can be done without any disturbance.

We are perhaps the first company in the world to have developed duct solution to deploy high voltage cables–upto 30KW. With regard to fiber optic cable deployment, our USP is our Patented

Our micro duct technology enables building a scalable and futuristic upgradable solution.

Our offerings are very much integral to a typical Smart City infrastructure. In a Smart City ecosystem, services such as real-time traffic monitoring, Integrated Command Control Centre (ICCC), surveillance centre etc, all require the internet connectivity. Also, with the Internet of Things (IoTs) taking centerstage these days, the use of devices connected to a web-based network is set to only increase. All our futuristic products facilitate all such processes with ease. Going forward, in addition to expanding our scale of operations, we aim to introduce many more innovations to support a Smart City infrastructure.

What is your message to policymakers?

While on a broader level, it’s quite pleasing to note the rapid strides that the concept of Smart Cities has been making across the country, however, we need to adopt the latest technologies in this domain very fast, so that not only our cities remain competitive (with respect to global standards), but end-users also start reaping the benefits of the latest technologies without any delay.

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D

ura-Line, headquartered inKnoxville, Tennessee is a leading international manufacturer and distributor of communication and energy infrastructure products and systems including conduit, cable-in-conduit, pipe and accessories.

It’s the world’s largest producer of Permanently Solid Lubricated HDPE ducts “Silicore” for Fiber Optic Cables, High Voltage Power Cables Ducts, Fluid Pipe Systems & Gas Pipes. Today, Dura-Line serves clients in more than 120 countries. Currently, its manufacturing facilities are based in the United States, Mexico, Europe, Oman, China and India.

The company has three manufacturing facilities in India located in Goa, Hyderabad and Neemrana (near Delhi) serving the geographies of Africa, Middle East, India, South East Asia and Pacific Rim. Backed by a dedicated research and development team, Duraline is a partner of choice of several global telecom operators worldwide with exclusive multi-year contracts.

One of the prime elements that set the company distinctively apart from the crowd is its extensive repertoire of cutting-edge technology products that are used for delivering high-end solutions. Dura-Line is QMSISO9001:2015,EMS-ISO14001:2015, BSOHSAS 18001:2007certified.

The company has a long-term record of providing quality products and services exceeding customers’ expectations.

All its products, solutions and services are dedicated to build robust, scalable networks for Telecom– Outside Plant, FTTH, Utility Corridors and Highway Traffic Management Systems (HTMS) applications& Power Utilities - ideally suited for Smart Cities.

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The Service offering of the company includes Network Designing & Engineering, Supply and Laying of Ducts, Fiber Optic Cable blowing, Splicing, Termination & Link Testing.

The company also specializes in providing Duct Solutions for High Voltage Power Cables installation.

Dura-Line also runs a unique Fiber Academy located at Goa, India, offering hands-on training on Fiber Network Designing, Deployment & Maintenance .

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DECEMBER 2018

45

INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE

Muthoot Helping Citizens Realise Their Dreams Ramratthinam S

Chief Executive Officer Muthoot Homefin (India) Limited

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DECEMBER 2018

Transparency in our dealings, customer centric approach and a highly passionate and dedicated team of employees been our core strength, says Ramratthinam S, Chief Executive Officer, Muthoot Homefin (India) Limited, in conversation with Harshal Desai of Elets News Network (ENN).

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Please brief us on Muthoot Homefin operations. How has the organisation grown since its inception?

Muthoot Homefin (India) Limited, a registered Housing Finance Company with National Housing Bank is a 100 percent subsidiary of India’s largest Gold Loan Company Muthoot Finance Limited.

Muthoot Homefin (India) Limited is a Housing Finance company focusing on the affordable housing segment to fulfil the aspirations of Economically Weaker Section and Low and Middle Income families by opening the doors of formal housing finance to them. The organisation has grown in leaps and bounds since its inception and is one of the fastest growing affordable housing finance company in the country.

The company began its lending operations in May, 2015 in Kerala and since then it has expanded its business operations to the States of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telengana, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana. The company operates out of 76 locations spread across these 11 states.

How has been the performance of the organisation in last fiscal year?

The Company’s loan book outstanding stood at Rs 1,465 crores as on March 31, 2018 with 15,908 customers being serviced for home loans. The Company reported a Net profit of Rs 27.80 crores for the period ended March 31,2018. The growth in FY 17-18 was over 233% as compared to FY 16-17.

What are the elements that differentiate Muthoot Homefin from its competitors? What has been the core of your strength?

company Muthoot Finance Limited helps the housing finance business to reach out to customers in tier 3 and tier 4 locations with last-mile connectivity.

Transparency in our dealings, customer centric approach and a highly passionate and dedicated team of employees have been our core strengths.

“We aim to be a Rs 15,000 crores AUM Company in five years from now. We would expand our business operations in a phased manner and would cover the entire country in these next five years.”

The distribution network of our parent

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How Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) – Urban and Rural has impacted your business prospects?

Launched on 2015, PMAY aims to construct 20 million houses by 2022 with a focus on EWS and LIG in the Urban areas. The scheme has helped in the company increase its home loan disbursements.

Which are the other sectors you are focusing?

Currently we are focusing on the affordable home buyers and builders. We plan to expand our product suite by offering loan against property and construction finance to builders in the coming years.

What are your plans for growth in next five years? Which part of the county you plan to expand your operations?

We aim to be a Rs 15,000 crores AUM Company in five years from now. We would expand our business operations in a phased manner and would cover the entire country in these next five years.

We would be present in over 250 odd locations in the next five years.

DECEMBER 2018

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INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE

Indus Towers: An Idea whose time has come Neelesh Kelkar

National Head-Smart Cities Indus Towers

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DECEMBER 2018

As we make progress, the concept of smart city will mature in India. Unlike the present airport model or highway model, wherein the investor is mainly focused on collecting revenue from citizens, the model here is different as there is no transactions with citizens, says Neelesh Kelkar, National Head-Smart Cities, Indus Towers, in conversation with Gopi Arora of Elets News Network.

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emerged as a very successful business proposition.

Of late, apart from shared infrastructure networks are also getting denser. After the launch of 3G and 4G and now soon to be launched 5G services, we see the emergence of two issues that need to be addressed.

Firstly, there is a capacity enhancement requirement; while the coverage is adequate, the capacity is not. So, we need to add more smart structures.

The distance between two telecom towers is coming down too. So, if the distance between two towers is decreasing, to say 150 meters or less than that, then we have to develop in public areas smart infrastructure which will be a pole that we call ‘street furniture’. Street furniture is all those street infra elements like Bus stops, public utilities etc . Without disturbing the city landscape, this smart infrastructure would no more be in the form of a conventional tower we are used to seeing.

How did Indus Towers foray into telecom and Smart Cities segment in India?

Indus Towers was formed as a joint venture between three competitors some 10 years back. The company was based on a unique business model which was referred to as a business case study at the Harvard School, and prompted the founders to come together to form a mutuallybeneficial vision of improving the overall Indian landscape, with special focus on telecom infrastructure.

The concept was about a shared infrastructure—kind of technology neutral—which at the same time offered the tenacity to do multiple things. That is the unique business proposition Indus has been focusing upon all these years and today it has

In the cities facing congestion problem, this issue is becoming more and more relevant. Hence, in relation to a smart city, we looked at this issue from different angles. Firstly, densification of a network would call for closer sites. Secondly, the acquisition of a property at a public place is difficult from the telecom sector perspective. So, what we thought of is that the time has come when we should come up with futuristic sites and make them available to telecom players.

We wanted to go for bulk acquisition of sites. Under the Smart Cities Mission, we saw opportunities on two fronts: firstly, acquisition and expansion of sites and thereafter getting some concessions from the government, and secondly, building ready-made infrastructure with fiber

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connectivity to take care of the smart equipments to be installed. As such infrastructure is going to play a crucial role in Digital India. However this infra is highly maintenance centric also.

Since we at Indus are willing to invest and maintain this infra, city management body need to not invest in this infra elements.

Also, we have pioneered the O&M (Operations and maintenance) practices because of our huge installed base across country. We offer this kind of expertise to Government that we can maintain and manage all these poles very efficiently.

Give us more details about the Indus towers operations.

Indus focus on passive infra of telecom industry. And as you know telecom is highly SLA centric activity.

DECEMBER 2018

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INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE

The Uptime in telecom is very important. Indus committed to give high quality service by ensuring best possible updtime. In order to achive this we continuously monitor all of telecom structure 24x7 through our tower operation centre. Presently we monitor more that 120000 towers in more than 15 circle for 24x 7 from our Chennai and Gurgaon centre These centres enable us to respond for any maintenance related issues.

If I ask about your holistic contribution to the smart city mission in India, what would be your reply?

As we make progress, the concept of smart city will mature in India. Unlike the present airport model or highway model, wherein the investor is mainly focused on collecting revenue from citizens, here the model is different as we don’t collect revenue directly from citizens. Telecom operators are the main source of generating revenue here. With our approach, the burden on local urban bodies will come down as the investments will be made in an industry which is able to efficiently manage and monetize smart structures. This is the main contribution from our side, I would say.

Tell us about the key challenges you have been facing?

The first challenge I would like to cite is the threat coming for the telecom sector per se. Presently, the telecom sector is passing through a rough patch. Competition is getting tougher day-by-day and anticipating monetizable avenues for telecom has become more challenging. Also, because of consolidation, some exits are happening.

India has never worked under PPP model very aggressively. Though authorities see an advantage in this

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DECEMBER 2018

model, there is some degree of hesitation to go for the PPP model especially at ULB level. As the PPP model works on a long-term horizon, we need to keep harnessing the investment that is mostly coming for industry players.

Technology upgradation at regular

“In India, during the last one year, we have seen a lot of consolidation. A lot of players have exited too. This is a good sign for the industry. Such trends will soon settle down and then we will have a next phase of growth.” intervals is also important. I have seen tenders where even after RFP was issued the contract was finalised only after 24 months, by which time the technology changed. This is something we need to address.

The worldwide telecom market is estimated to be worth $40.02 billion in 2017, so what’s your take on the Indian telecom market’s potential and growth, say, in the next five years.

In India, during the last one year, we have seen a lot of consolidation. A lot

of players have exited too. This is a good sign for the industry. Such trends will soon settle down and then we will have a next phase of growth for the Indian telecom sector which we expect. So at Indus towers, we expect newer dimensions such as IoT, the blockchain, and all the latest digital technologies to create more opportunities. Further, I believe all telecom players are mentally ready to face such times.

The telecom minister has said that they are ready to partner with the private player for PPP models. How do you see Indus Towers benefitting out of this development?

When we interact with policymakers, we say that for India to be ready with 5G, infrastructure needs to be ready.

And for this purpose, the concept of shared infrastructure is well appreciated by all stakeholders.

What are the geographies you plan to tap in terms of smart cities operations?

At the moment, out of 100 smart cities, we are focussing on several select smart cities. In addition, we are also focusing on allied industries, be it EV charging, WIFI model etc. Many hybrid models of investments are also being explored with various city corporations.

With how many smart cities projects, Indus Towers is currently working with?

We have already signed three contracts with three State Govt bodies. One is with New Delhi Municipal Corporation, Vadodara municipal corporation agreement has been signed, and more than 80 sites have been rolled out. We have also done a project for Bangalore WIFI City. In addition, discussions on six –eight projects is at a very mature level with different State bodies.

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