Business Wire IndiaSupporting the Prime Minister’s mission of Smart Cities India, world leaders from numerous industries continued their discussion on the pillars of smart cities at the 2nd edition of the Smart Cities India 2016 expo. The second day of the expo witnessed prominent dignitaries including Shri Raghav Chandra, IAS (Chairman, NHAI, India); Dr. Arun Kumar Verma (IFS, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Power, Govt. of India); Mr. Pravin Agrawal, IFS (Director, Ministry of Heavy Industries, Govt. of India, India); Shri Pranav R. Mehta (Chairman, National Solar Energy Federation of India and Co-Chairman, Global Solar Council); Mr. Amit Kumar (Vice President cum Secretary, GRIHA, India); Mr. Rakesh Kumar, Director (PS), SECI, India etc.
Keynote speaker at 2nd Smart Cities India 2016 forum Shri Raghav Chandra, IAS, Chairman, NHAI, India, in the session of Smart Transport: Policies, legal issues & market realities said: “Last mile connectivity is prominent focus while developing smart cities. Smart transport can deliver people better life and mobility. The most vibrant area of transport is personal transport in which we are far more choosy, selective and aggressive. Maintenance of smart cities relies on appropriate standards.”
Speaking at the platform, Ms. Sulajja Motwani, Vice Chairman, Kinetic Green Energy & Power Solutions Ltd., India remarked on the importance of electric vehicles: “A new lateral thinking is significant to find relevant solutions for the creation of smart cities. Vehicular emission is a critical issue. I am quite bullish on the implementation of electric-hybrid technology. Electric and hybrid vehicle play a vital role in building smart cities.”
Later in the morning, conference session held on the second day of the expo saw extensive discussion on Smart Transport: Policies, legal issues & market realities; Role of ICT in delivering smart cities; Solar rooftop as a game changer; Green Buildings: An enabler of Smart Cities; Big data, analytics & energy storage; Smart grids for smart cities to name a few.
Mr. Pranav R. Mehta, Chairman, National Solar Energy Federation of India and Co-Chairman, Global Solar Council, chaired the session on Solar Rooftop as a game changer, stated: “It is beyond any reasonable doubt that rooftop will be a game changer. Any game change has to involve masses. Our solar movement has to go from class to mass. Over rooftop is being adopted more and more, be it USA, Japan, Australia, Europe, Germany already has shown a way by 85% rooftop and India will not be left behind.I am greatly impressed by this global scale expo and conference, wherein every minute detail had been taken care of and it’s a truly impressive platform matching global quality standards.”
“Smart Cities cannot be thought of without clean energy. A 360-degree thinking and planning is required, so that skewed development does not happen. Storage solutions, battery disposal and better forecasting techniques are the areas, where improvement is required. Strong awareness on solar benefits should be campaigned. Residential units are going to be the largest market for solar heating,” said Mr. Rakesh Kumar, Director (PS), SECI, India in the session of Solar rooftop technologies & engineering.
To amplify the mayor’s involvement in the decision making for smart cities in India, the organizers hosted Mayors Conclave, for the first time. The conclave witnessed prominent speakers such as Shri Tikender Singh Panwar (Deputy Mayor, Municipal Corporation Shimla); Smt Veena Agrawal (Mayor, Moradabad Municipal Corporation, India); Shri Ashwini Tippana Majjagi (Ex-Mayor, Hubbali-Dharwad City Corporation, India; India); Shri NV Patel (Chairman, Vadodara Urban Development Authority, India); Mr Frans-Anton Vermast (Senior Strategy Advisor, Low Carbon & Connected Urban Planning, Amsterdam Smart City, the Netherlands); Mr. Renato Lucio DE Castro Junior (International Advisor, World e-Governments Organisations of Cities and Local Governments (WeGO), Italy); etc.
Present on the occasion, Shri Tikender Singh Panwar, Deputy Mayor, Municipal Corporation Shimla, remarked: “Smart cities are about the common people and the strategies are ought to be made focusing the people. The overall idea must be to make all the cities better and not limit the achievement to only 100 smart cities. Today, we face the struggle of power between the elected members and nominated members in our country. It is critical to have a distinct leadership which must exist at even the city level.”
“Crucial element is to have a strong political leadership. Vision and framework are required to facilitate the initiative. Partner with private companies and people should be involved from nascent stage. For building successful smart cities, deploying open source architecture is critical,” commented, Mr. Renato Lucio DE Castro Junior, International Advisor, World e-Governments Organisations of Cities and Local Governments (WeGO), Italy, in the conclave.
Our gold partner and a leading exhibitor from Dell, Mr. Ravinder Pal Singh, Director – Solutions Strategy & Business Development, Smart Cities, IoT & Digitization, Dell Inc., India, said: “This is the first time Dell has participated in Smart Cities India expo. The expo is both focused and stimulating intellectually. With more than 300 companies including developed countries including Sweden, Taiwan and Netherland as country pavilions, the expo is based on a solution showcase perspective.”
Mr. Prem Behl, Chairman, Exhibitions India Group, said: “The Smart Cities India 2016 expo will aid in knowledge sharing, trend forecasting, business development in setting the future roadmap for Indian smart cities. Given the critical importance of political leadership in building smart cities, Mayors Conclave is organised to address issues in the Indian context.”
The third day of the event will deliberate on the topics Smart Urban Planning, Smart water solutions for smart cities, Public Transport: Shaping the future of cities, Waste management solutions for smart cities Skills to build smart cities, Building healthy cities and also the collocated events, Smart Villages and Smart Cities India 2016 awards.
About Smart Cities India expo:
Smart Cities India expo is an annual exhibition and conference organised by Exhibitions India group. Launched in 2015, the expo has emerged as one of the significant smart city events worldwide.
The 2nd Smart Cities India expo 2016 is supported by 10 central government ministries. Support from some of the leading associations including NASSCOM; The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI); The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE); Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC); Asia Society for Social Improvement and Sustainable Transformation (ASSIST); Battery Rickshaw Welfare Association (BRWA); COAI; etc. There are 46 concurrent conference sessions with 300 speakers deliberating on various sectors water and waste management, environment, urban planning, green building, smart transport, IT communications, e-governance, smart grid, clean energy, education and skills to build smart cities, smart manufacturing, make in India, smart health, disaster management etc.
Please visit: http://www.smartcitiesindia.com/ for more information.
About Exhibitions India Group:
Exhibitions India Group is a multi-services trade promotion company with 160 employees located in New Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai. Overseas offices are in Dubai, Germany, Japan, Kenya and the U.S.A. We are amongst a few trade promotion organisations with ISO 9001:2008, ISO 14001:2004 and OHSAS 18001:2007 certification.
Please visit: http://www.exhibitionsindiagroup.com for more information.
Photo Caption:
L-R – Mayors Conclave - Ashwini Tippana Majjagi, Ex-Mayor, Hubbali-Dharwad City Corporation, India, Smt Manjula Ravi Akkur, Mayor, Hubbali-Dharwad City Corporation, India, Smt Veena Agrawal, Mayor, Moradabad Municipal Corporation, India, Prem Behl, Chairman, Exhibitions India Group, Shri Tikender Singh Panwar, Deputy Mayor, Municipal Corporation Shimla, Indrajeet Arya, Mayor, Agra, U.P, Smt. Rajani Sesha Sai, Mayor, Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh
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