The New Delhi Municipal Council’s (NDMC) budget for the coming financial year will focus on making Lutyens’ Delhi a ‘smart city’, with several old proposals — including Wi-Fi connectivity — and a smart parking management system being repeated.
Being a part of the Union Ministry of Urban Development’s Smart City initiative, Lutyens’ Delhi has been trying to improve services with the help of technology for over a year now. On Friday, NDMC chairperson Naresh Kumar reiterated this goal when he presented the budget for 2017-2018.
As per the budget passed by the council, the NDMC would spend ₹3,296.25 crore in the next financial year and earn an estimated ₹3,404.51 crore.
‘Inclusive development’
“The basic philosophy behind this budget was good governance and inclusive development. We will focus on technology intervention, scale and speed when it comes to implementation,” said Mr. Kumar while addressing a press conference after presenting the budget.
After being selected for the Smart Cities Mission, the NDMC set up a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to carry out projects. This SPV has already received a grant of ₹194 crore from the Urban Development Ministry and ₹56 crore from the NDMC, said Mr. Kumar.
Wi-fi project to be taken up
In the 2017-2018 budget, Mr. Kumar announced that the delayed free public Wi-Fi project would be carried out as a joint venture of the NDMC and a subsidiary of the MTNL. Last year, the NDMC had run into legal trouble while executing a similar plan. The ambitious plan to install 18,500 ‘smart poles’ that would have LED lights, Wi-Fi routers and CCTV cameras was first announced in March 2015. One of the companies that bid for the contract moved the High Court against the NDMC’s decision to allot the project to a competitor. After this, the NDMC failed to find takers in subsequent attempts.
“The industry was not willing to take up the project on the public-private partnership (PPP) model, so we decided to form a joint venture. After covering the NDMC area, the company can go national or even global,” said Mr. Kumar.
With regard to public transport and parking, the NDMC budget presented a mix of old and new proposals. For instance, Mr. Kumar proposed building a multi-level parking facility at Khan Market, for which the NDMC had bought land in 2011.
Among the new proposals were a bicycle sharing scheme that would have 500 cycles for rent and the use of electric vehicles for last-mile connectivity. These electric vehicles will first be rolled out first in Connaught Place, which is set to become vehicle-free from February.
