MoU with US firm for smart cities approved

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday gave its approval for signing of a memorandum of understanding between the ministry of urban development and Bloomberg Philanthropies (BP), New York, to support the government’s ambitious project of developing smart cities. This newspaper had reported about the development first.

The proposal entails Bloomberg Philanthropies to work as knowledge partner and support the development and execution of a cities challenge under the Smart Cities Mission.

The Union Cabinet had earlier approved the Smart Cities Mission in April 2015, and subsequently, the Prime Minister had launched it on June 25, 2015. The proposal under the Smart Cities Mission seeks to facilitate creation of quality urban infrastructure which will lead to improvement in the quality of urban life. Bloomberg Philanthropies Government Innovation Initiatives equip mayors and local leaders with practical tools and approaches to solve major challenges and enable public sector innovation to flourish.

As a knowledge partner, Bloomberg Philanthropies will also support the ministry of urban development in helping design and manage the cities challenge.

Meanwhile, in yet another decision, the Cabinet decided to scale up by nearly 10-fold the financial assistance for grid connected rooftop and small solar power plants programme to Rs 5,000 crore.

“The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the scaling up of budget from Rs crore to Rs 5,000 crore for implementation of grid connected rooftops systems over a period of five years up to 2019-20 under National Solar Mission (NSM),” an official statement said.

This will support installation of 4,200 MW solar rooftop systems in the country in the next five years, it said.

The capital subsidy of 30 per cent will be provided for general category states and 70 per cent for special category states, including N-E states, including Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Lakshadweep, Andaman and Nicobar Islands.