As a support group for winning overseas construction projects, which is managed by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) visited India from July 26 to Aug. 4, reviewed whether or not it could participate in the Indian government’s smart city project, and discussed various ways to cooperate in city development with India’s Department of Urban Development and the National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC), the company said on Aug. 6. NBCC is the agency implementing India’s smart city project.
Under the agreement, LH and India’s NBCC will share their technology and experience of city development, housing and industrial complex development, and a space information system. Also, they will jointly seek new mutual cooperation projects by holding working-level meetings and interchange with experts.
India is currently struggling with an increasing number of problems such as traffic congestion, environmental pollution, and energy shortages due to rapid industrialization and population growth. Accordingly, the Indian government announced the plan in July last year to build 100 smart cities all over the country for the next 15 years, with a basic target to improve the residential environment for people. The smart city plan mainly focuses on the improvement of the living environment and convenience, including addressing parking difficulties and traffic congestion, and expanding wastewater treatment facilities.
An official from LH said, “LH has been carrying out the U-City project in many new cities, and it seems that the Indian government considers it a good model for its smart city project. With the MOU and experience from the visit to India, we are planning to tap into the global market in the future, along with private firms in the domestic smart city sector.”