Visakhapatnam: While Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday had announced that the US would be helping India in developing smart cities at Vizag and few other places, in a coincidence of sorts there was much activity by the US diplomats on the same issue here in Vizag last week.
A high-level delegation from the US trade offices of Hyderabad and Chennai and Hyderabad Consulate were in Vizag on a 3-day trip, last week. They held a series of meetings with CII representatives, IT association, district administration and many others exploring and understanding the key areas where they can help Vizag to become a smart city.
As per the discussions held by the district collector and other senior officials, it is understood that US is most likely to help Vizag in areas of energy, sanitation, transportation and security as integral parts of the smart cities.
A team of four higher officials from American Consulates of Chennai and Hyderabad led by the Minister Counsellor for Commerce Affairs of the US Department of Commerce John McCaslin assessed the possibilities of participatory developments and investments.
During his visit, John McCaslin said that they already had a meeting with Chief Minister N. Chandra Babu Naidu and accordingly, the team is visiting Vizag for assessing the possibilities.
Specific technology projects, automotive sector, transportation connectivity, linking the East Coast with the West Coast with excellent sea transport connectivity, infrastructure and other areas have been chosen for working together with the Indian and Andhra Pradesh governments, John McCaslin said.
“The American delegation that visited Vizag last week evinced interest in helping Vizag become a smart city.
“However, we are yet to receive any official communication from the union or state governments on the Smart City or seeking any proposals in this regard. We have already prepared a vision document on what needs to be done for the development of Vizag and its infrastructure needs, which will be submitted to the government very soon. Besides, we have also asked economics departments of Gitam and Andhra Universities to prepare a vision documents,” district collector N .Yuvaraj told this correspondent.
