NDA to develop legal framework
The Swiss government has authorized 2000Watt Smart City Association (2000WSCA) to represent and confer the international label 2000WattSite to townships, towns, cities and regions in India, attracting over US$1 billion investments in various industries setting up Pune as a start.
The new label is furthermore combined with the Indian guidelines for Smart Cities, making these new townships both sustainable and comfortable. This combined label is called 2000WattSmartCity, said legal consultants Nishith Desai Associates (NDA) which acted as legal counsel to 2000WSCA, representative of Swiss Federal Office of Energy.
The 2000Watt SmartCity label will lay down standards for smart cities to come up in India.
2000WSCA entered into a Memorandum of Understanding on 19 Sept 2019 with the Pune Metropolitan Regional Development Authority to execute the concept of developing carbon-neutral sustainable townships in Pune region, said NDA which advised on strategic, legal and tax aspects of entering into a formal relationship with Pune Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (PMRDA) for development of carbon neutral sustainable townships around Pune.
Further, NDA will help label 2000Watt SmartCity develop legal and regulatory framework for governance of smart cities which have been configured with the label.
The MoU, signed as part of the 71st year of India-Switzerland friendship treaty, aims to constrain carbon emission and enhance energy sufficiency in its approach towards development of Pune.
Speaking then at the 19 Sept 2019 MoU signing, Consul General of Switzerland in Mumbai, Othmar Hardegger had assured: “We have developed a strategy to support India in establishing carbon-neutral smart townships and will work closely with PMRDA.”
After signing the MoU, Metropolitan Commissioner and CEO Vikram Kumar said the first-ever carbon-neutral township will open new avenues for people and upgrade technology in different sectors.
“The smart township model will be designed on the structure of the townships in Switzerland. The carbon-neutral townships will consist of 12 different themes which will focus on specialized areas like Agricultural cluster, Emerging Technology and Tourism, Fintech, Start-ups and Healthcare.
“We’ll invite people to invest in the town planning scheme and also develop the model on land belonging to PMRDA. If the project is successful, then it can be adopted across the state,” he said. fiinews.com
