France has become the first country to pledge financial support in developing the Narendra Modi government’s ambitious ‘Smart Cities’ project. The country pledged investment of over 2 billion euros to develop Chandigarh, Nagpur and Puducherry as smart cities.
French Ambassador Francois Richier said on Wednesday that there is also an investment of another 200 million euros for the extension of Bangalore metro.
Other countries such as the U.S., Canada, Japan, Spain, Singapore, Hong Kong and the UAE have also offered assistance but financial details weren’t disclosed, media reports suggest.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited France in April and France had committed 600 million euros for ‘Smart Cities’ and projects related to sustainability, including in renewable energy and energy efficiency,” a FICCI release quoted Richier as saying at a seminar organized by the industry body.
Venkaih Naidu, Minister or Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, and Parliamentary Affairs said that India was looking towards more such partnerships with France for developing cities in the country.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com