L&T will be the first to tap the “Smart City” project opportunity

Larsen & Toubro, India's largest engineering and construction company, has formed a new unit for smart cities, security solutions and communication projects named "Smart World and Communication". L&T is expecting the business will grow to USD 1 billion in three to four years, driven by the government's push in these areas. This project is a small unit with 65 members which includes people from different verticals within the company and some people who have been especially hired for this. The new unit will focus on three key segments smart cities, smart communication systems and security solutions.

Smart Cities are intended to enhance the quality of urban life by providing a clean and sustainable environment with 24 hour water and power supply. Sanitation and solid waste management, efficient urban mobility and public transportation, affordable housing for poor, and robust IT connectivity among others are essential features of the project. Smart City entails facilities like modern sewerage system and infrastructure development among other advanced facilities. 

In India, all existing hill stations were developed by Britishers only and today these places like Mussorie is over crowded. So government is developing Smart City in these areas as Greenfield project while for the rest it will be Brownfield project. Migration from rural areas have put a great burden on the existing civic infrastructure in cities, posing a major challenge for the town planners. There was an urgent need for development of urban infrastructure as population has increased many times in cities.

The central government plans to spend Rs 1 lakh crore to build smart cities by 2020. These cities would have affordable housing in a cost-efficient and environment-friendly- physical, social and institutional infrastructure set up for a better quality of living.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will formally launch the Rs 98,000 crore Smart City and AMRUT projects on June 25, in an attempt at transforming the urban infrastructure burdened with ever-growing population. The Union Cabinet had some time ago cleared the projects of 100 Smart Cities and a new urban renewal mission for 500 cities named after former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, replacing the one christened after Jawaharlal Nehru, with a total outlay of Rs 98,000 crore for the next five years. Smart City project is to be developed under the PPP(Public-private partnership) model. Twenty cities are likely to be shortlisted for the Smart City project in the first phase, 40 will be selected in the next stage, followed by 40 more later. The total estimate of investment requirements for providing these services is estimated to be around Rs 7.5 lakh crore over 20 years which means it requires Rs 35,000 crore in a year.

The government future plans for smart city and participation of different companies for the smart city project will create a better infrastructure in India. The telecom, construction, IT and renewable energy industries will be in demand over next 4- 5 years. The advanced facilities in smart city will help citizens.