AMCHAM’s Infrastructure and Smart Cities Committee met virtually on August 24th to discuss opportunities and issues in the sector. After a quick round of introductions, Mr. Rajesh Dhar, Chairman – Infrastructure and Smart Cities Committee, AMCHAM and Senior Director, Infrastructure & Hardware Growth, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) set the context for member interaction. This was followed by a presentation by Mr. Pradeep Balijepalli, Chief Commercial Officer, Honeywell Building Technologies regarding a white paper on ‘Making Cities Smarter and Sustainable – Policy and Technology recommendations,’ which generated a good discussion with policy recommendations taking priority. Thereafter, came the presentation by Dr. Philo Daniel, Global Director, Urban Security, Smiths Detection on safety and security for interconnected cities. Dr. Daniel joined the meeting from London and spoke about their security proposition for metros operating in urban centres and multi-use railway stations. It was felt that the security proposition from Smiths Detection could be introduced as a smart city use case and showcased under the smart cities mission. Also discussed were the center – state dynamics in the context of project funding with an emphasis on self-sustaining/revenue generating projects being preferred. Members expressed the need to engage with stakeholders such as the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, NITI Aayog, etc. to gauge the government’s current and new thinking on urban rejuvenation, ICT infrastructure, sustainability, safety and security, clean energy, smart services, etc. The Commercial sector of the U.S. Embassy offered to raise the issue with stakeholders for better focus and informed the members that the new Minister Counselor for Commercial Affairs at the Embassy would arrive in September 2022.

 

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By joining AMCHAM India, you become part of an active and dynamic Apex Chamber of U.S. Industry in India with a membership base of more than 400 American companies in India. AMCHAM is an important voice for policy advocacy, a critical source for business intelligence, a vibrant platform for networking and expanding your business.