Japanese institute-IIT Kharagpur deal on smart cities

3The Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur has signed a deal with a Japanese institute namely Nikken Sekkei Research Institute (NSRI) to plan, design and implement smart technologies for developing sustainable habitats for growth of smart cities in India.

Ranbir and Chitra Gupta of Infrastructure Design and Management (RCGSIDM), along with the department of agriculture and regional planning (ARP), have picked up the challenge to readress the dimensions of smart city growth which is based on two concerns i.e. sustainable infrastructure and liveable habitat.

In the memorandum that was signed recently, collaborative projects like bullet train, other smart transportation technologies and smart agriculture will be brought in.

Partha Pratim Chakrabarti, Director, IIT Kharagpur said, “This MoU targets design, planning and implementation of such projects and technologies for sustainable cities. Japan has the expertise in smart technologies and we are banking on our cultural history to take the relationship forward.”

During the international symposium on ‘Liveable habitat and sustainable infrastructure: a key to smart city growth’, he also said, “Metros like Kolkata and peri-urban cities such as Asansol and many others in West Bengal and other states will be part of the plan.”

Principal Consultant for NSRI, Shigehisa Matsumura, said, “The deal would be a good starting point for the fruitful execution of the smart city programme.

Projects under IIT Kharagpur’s Sandhi initiative like Varanasi-Kyoto programme have been brought under the ambit of this agreement too.

“This envisages recovery of the greenery in Varanasi, also creating heritage trails and tourism in the city. For Kyoto, the vision is to recover cultural ethos through revival of hand-tools, vocational education,” said IIT-Kgp’s professor Joy Sen, in-charge of the work.