BHOPAL (INDIA): In a bid to strengthen trade ties, a delegation from Australia here today explored business opportunities in the smart city initiatives in Madhya Pradesh, which has seven cities named under the central project.
A 30-member Australian Smart Infrastructure Delegation held discussions with officials of the state urban development department, exploring business opportunities in smart city projects of Madhya Pradesh.
The delegation is part of the 150-member Australian business delegation that is currently in India for a visit as part of Australia Business Week in India 2017, organised by Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade).
“Australian companies are ideally placed to deliver integrated, well-managed and sustainable urban, commercial and industrial environment that can be applied to Madhya Pradesh’s smart cities mission program,” trade commissioner, Australian Trade and Investment Commission, Dr Grayson Perry, told reporters after the meeting.
He said Australia has significant experience in retrofitting smart infrastructure solutions to ageing infrastructure and developing integrated multi-use green-field projects.
Their expertise also include the fields of urban designing and master planning, intelligence and multi-model transport system, urban and industrial water management, water recycling, smart grids, waste to energy and river front development among others.
Perry said Australian companies have a fair experience in working under the PPP (public-private partnership) model.
“Australian companies will work on funding model. They are looking forward to joint ventures and business consortium with local companies. We are hopeful that the companies will come back within next couple of weeks to work out next step,” he said.
Under the Smart Cities Mission, the Centre has selected seven cities of Madhya Pradesh, which are Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar and Satna.
He said the Madhya Pradesh government has planned an investment of A$ (Australian Dollar) 4 billion across the seven smart cities by leveraging seed funding of A$1.4 billion from the central and state governments.
During the Australia Business Week, more than 50 business events and activities are being conducted in cities of New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bhopal, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.
Source: Press Trust of India