Lord Francis Maude of Horsham, who is presently on a three-day visit to New Delhi, presented a report that talks about initiatives taken by the UK in delivering smart cities in support of India.
The report that caters to India's Smart Cities Programme was floored by the UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) and Ernst &Young to scope the potential opportunities for both UK and Indian companies through Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambition of building 100 smart cities.
Presenting the report to Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman, Lord Maude said, "As India embarks on its ambition to build 100 smart cities, the UK hopes to be an invaluable partner."
"We look forward to sharing our expertise in building smart cities with India. This opportunity very seriously and this report by UKTI scopes the opportunities where Britain can best support India's aspirations," he added.
Lord Maude further said India has an ambition to create 100 new smart cities and the UK can help.
"UK companies need to demonstrate to India that they understand Indian needs and have strengths to offer. Based on an analysis of UK strengths against the current skills gap in Indian smart cities, there are significant opportunities for UK companies to engage in the Indian Smart City market" states the report," said Lord Maude.
He said several sectors that the UK and India bond will look up to includes infrastructure, transport, water, waste management, built environment in physical terms.
More From This Section
"Digital sectors will have to look out for ICT, data, software, analytics and smart metering," Lord Maude said.
"Apart from this, commercial sectors include professional services, regulatory standards, financing and legal. Whereas, social caters municipal services, community-led designs and services, e-governance along with the Government drafted framework for Smart Cities," he added.