Cisco systems, a firm selling telecom equipment and video-conferencing hardware across the world, is in talks with various state governments for smart city projects. The process is going on at a time when Cisco is undertaking similar projects in states such as Rajasthan.
Talking to mediapersons, Dinesh Malkani, President, India & SAARC, said, “The company is currently looking to increase the pace of its investments in Indian startups that are building disruptive tech solutions in areas such as Internet of Things, Cloud Computing and analytics. Majority of the states are looking at blueprinting their plans around how the smart city roadmap is going to be ready.
Cisco is also working with states like Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh on smart city projects. In the first phase, Jaipur had created digital infrastructure to offer amenities to the citizens, including kiosks, wireless broadband, safety and security services, traffic management and environmental updates.
Further, the second phase of the project is expected to be completed by the end of February 2016.
Earlier this year, Cisco’s investment and venture capital arm set aside USD40 million to invest in early stage Indian startups focussed mainly on three verticals, namely connected Mobility, Big Data and Internet of Things (IoT).
In India, over the past five to ten years, Cisco has invested in more than two dozen startups, with nearly a dozen of those investments coming over the past 12-18 months.
