BENGALURU: Balloons of promises are blown every time a new government comes to power. When INC came to power in 2009, promises were made to enact a new National Food Security Act, social security, empowerment of weaker sections of society, etc. Same was the case with BJP and many other parties which came to power at state or the central level. The greed of a better future make citizens succumb to these promises and elect a party to rule. Some promises are kept many are not, but almost every time it is noticed that after a certain period, citizens forget the promises made for them, and political parties forget the promises made by them. When BJP came to power in 2014, plethora of promises were made by them as well. Make In India, Smart Cities, Bullet Train, 15 lakhs in everyone’s account and what not! But the way these promises were kept was hilarious! While the implementation didn’t take off at all, some senior leaders of BJP itself went on to state that those promises were nothing but Election Jumla (the promises which are made not to be fulfilled).

Think yourself, how can an idea like “Smart City” be implemented in India. A country where many people still struggle with a T.V. remote, how will their lives be any easy with a technology (IoT) in place which has been termed as the latest scientific revolution? While ideas of converting India into a developed nation sound fantastic, doing is so is not really a piece of cake. Realizing the same, BJP government has taken a step back and re-thought their plans again to build smart cities in India. Addressing Smart Cities India Expo, Power and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal today said that Development of smart cities in the country will have to be customized to the Indian context while leveraging on economies of scale to make the requisite technology affordable as reported by The Economic Times.

He also added the concept of smart city must be practical, doable and affordable, which can be deliberated, discussed and then implemented. There is a need to develop smart cities or towns in a smart way.

"We got to think smart when we think of smart cities or smart technologies playing a role in India. How can we do it customized to the Indian context! How can we do it with the bare bone essentials, which would help have an impact! How can we do it to scale so that we can leverage the large economies of scale," Goyal said.

It was announced in January by the central government that the smart batch of this initiative will cover 20 cities in 11 states and New Delhi which will need an investment of Rs 50,802 crore over the next five years. “The power of economies of scale, the power of leveraging billion plus aspiring individuals, ensuring affordability to make a programme self sustainable, practical application in the Indian context are the keys to the implementation of smart cities,” stated Goyal.

According to the Power and Coal Minister, there are many challenges to build smart cities in India, but the market opportunity that the demographic advantage of India provides can’t be neglected either. He stressed on the need of adequate dustbins at an affordable cost which will support the disposal of wastage for the smart city movement. Goyal also said that there is a need to replace the existing meters with smart meters, which in Indian context should have tamper-proof mechanism and two-way communication. "That's the smart meter I am looking for. I don't think it should cost more than $12-15. If we can do it at $15, I have a proposition of 250 million smart meters. That is the scale at which India offers opportunities," stated Goyal.

Goyal also highlighted on energy efficiencies by stating that the Centre is running a 770-million LED bulb programme, which will cost less than $1 billion with no government investment.  “The cost of the LED bulb has come down by 83 per cent from Rs 310 to Rs 54.90 per piece. People could save $6.5 billion every year in their electricity bills by switching to LED bulbs,” said Goyal.

Smart cities are projected to be equipped with basic infrastructure and will offer a good quality of life through smart solutions. Assured water and power supply, sanitation and solid waste management, efficient urban mobility and public transport, robust IT connectivity, e-governance and citizen participation along with safety of its citizens are some of the likely attributes of these smart cities. But does India really need all this today? With farmers committing suicide on daily basis, people dying due to lack of water, and crimes been committed on the name of religion, the question here arises “Is our country developed enough to hold another glazing initiative?” Something to think upon!

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