India: Building Smart Cities

The Government of India has recently announced the 20 winners of the Smart City Challenge competition for financing during this financial year. Smart City Mission marks a paradigm shift towards urban development in the country with a total investment of Rs 50,802 crore (US$ 7.5 billion) over five years with Public Private Partnership (PPP) being a major vehicle of resource mobilisation. Integrated urban planning, land use planning, transport, urban design and architecture in a holistic manner are the few key advantages of the Smart City Mission.

In another significant development, the Indian food retail market is expected to cross Rs 61 lakh crore (US$ 900 billion) by 2020, according to the India Food Report 2016. The market size in the food retail industry stood at Rs 25 lakh crore (US$ 369 billion) in 2014, which accounts for close to 65 per cent of India’s total retail market pie. With India already being the largest consumer is segments like dairy, pulses, sugar and spices, the food retail market in India can be expected to continue its growth run.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.