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Indo-German urbanization partnership begins

type: press release , Date: 14 December 2018

Germany is helping three Indian cities to become sustainable Smart Cities

Source:
GettyImages - miakievy

Gunther Adler, the State Secretary for building affairs at the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community
(BMI) took part in a signing ceremony in Delhi today for the official launch of a project to help three Indian cities to
become sustainable Smart Cities. State Secretary Adler has also invited India to participate in the BMI’s international
Smart City network.

Today’s ceremony saw the signing of the implementation agreement for the Climate-Smart Cities project. It was also
attended by India’s Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs, Mr Hardeep Singh Puri.

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The project is part of the Indo-German urbanization partnership between the BMI and the Indian Ministry of Housing
and Urban Affairs. The aims of the project and the choice of the three cities in question were decided upon by a working
group of representatives from both the Indian and German ministries. State Secretary Adler said: "This is a key project in
the increasingly important cooperation between India and Germany. It supports the
implementation of the Indian 100 Smart Cities Mission."
Mr Adler praised the project’s goal of helping the cities of Bhubaneswar, Coimbatore and Kochi on their way to becoming
more sustainable and climate-friendly: "We must use digital opportunities intelligently to create cities which are good to
live in and also allow us to achieve climate targets." The three cities are part of the 100 Smart Cities Mission, which the
Indian government is using to improve the cities’ infrastructure.

"It is important to shape the digital transformation in a way that puts citizens first, promotes democracy, and maintains
open spaces," added the state secretary. "In this dynamic environment we must learn from one other rapidly and
internationally,” he went on. “We want to cooperate closely with our Indian partners and other partner countries as part
of an international Smart City network."

The Climate-Smart Cities project was conceived recently as part of a focus on urban development by the International
Climate Initiative (IKI). The project will be implemented over the next few years by GIZ (a German development agency)
and the Indian Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), with €4.7 million in funding. The Federal Ministry for
the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) and the BMI are jointly in charge of the project. The
German Federal Government also supports a number of other urban development projects in the three smart cities in
question, in particular with funding from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

More information on the IKI can be found here: https://www.international-climate-initiative.com/

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