Cidco launches its own smart-city project

The City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) launched its smart-city project on Friday in Vashi in the presence of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.

The corporation plans to develop eight nodes under the project. They are Kharghar, Kamothe, New Panvel, Kalamboli, Ulwe, Taloja, Dronagiri and Pushpak Nagar.

Since Cidco is a town planning agency and not a municipal body, its nodes could not be included in the central government's project. Hence, Cidco has decided to develop its own smart city.

The corporation will spend around Rs 2,000 crore on the project and it will be self-financed. "We are using land as a source for financial self-sustainability," said Sanjay Bhatia, vice-chairman and managing director, Cidco.

Free broadband services and computers to all zilla parishad schools and 55,000 homes for the economically weaker section at a cost of Rs 10,700 crore are the other highlights of the project.