JICA draft report to make Ponneri smart is ready

C Shivakumar

Chennai:

The draft report to develop Ponneri in North Chennai as one of the three smart
cities in Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor has been completed by
Japan International Cooperation Agency.



“We have prepared the draft report by the end of March. Now we are
seeking the comments from all stake holders. Once, we get the comments
then it will be incorporated in the report. The final report could be
ready before June,” said senior representative of Japan International
Cooperation Agency Ichiguchi Tomohide.



He also said the masterplan for both Chennai Bangalore Industrial
Corridor as well as the smart city in Ponneri is likely to be ready
before June, said Tomohide.



He said the stakeholders of the smart city project are Central
government agencies, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion and
Tamil nadu government.



JICA is looking at developing around 3,00 hectares in the area. The
masterplan would include industrial parks, residential area besides
commercial space.



Interestingly, JICA is planning to conduct a seminar on Chennai
Bangalore Industrial Corridor to gain the feedback from industry and
policy-makers once the master plan is ready. It is likely to be held
in Chennai in the next few months.



Although Tomohide ruled out Ennore Port’s role in developing the smart
city, he said the role of Ennore Port could be considered while
looking at the import and exports from the industries which would be
housed in the smart city.



A top Ennore Port official told Express that developing Ponneri as
smart city is Union government’s ambitious plan to have a smart cities
along its 12 major ports. He had said that the plan of the Union
government by linking Ponneri to Ennore Port is to help grow the smart
city. He told Express that shipping ministry is playing a major role
in augmenting smart city.



The plan of JICA is also to develop Ponneri as one of the industrial
hubs for Japanese companies.  The other two nodes are planned at
Vasant Narasapur at Tumkur in Karnataka and Krishnapatnam near
Nellore, in Andhra Pradesh.

On JICA's participation in Global Investors Meet, Tomohide said that
Japan External Trade Organization is taking part but did not rule out
JIC’s participation.