Interviews
India & Sweden to sign MoU in field of environment
04 Feb '08
5 min read
Mr. Ajay Maken, Minister of State for Urban Development, Government of India said while there was no dearth of resources, India welcomed Swedish cooperation in building capacity of authorities and administrators in managing these resources. He pointed out building capacity of municipalities to plan and execute sustainable urban development projects was an area best led by businesses.
The Minister provided some statistics to lend a perspective of the problem being faced by India. Some 300 million Indians - 30% of India's total - live in urban areas; this was the second largest number in the world.
India has 5,100 urban agglomerations, with 300 Class 1 cities / towns; 60% of total urban growth is concentrated here, and arefacing intense migration from rural areas. The strain on the urban centres is high since infrastructure is unable to keep pace with the increasing requirements of its inhabitants.
Mr. Maken went on to say that while there was a shortage of 24 million houses in India, 98% of this shortage is faced by the economically weak of our society. In Delhi, there were 3.3 million houses (2001 census), but 271,000 were vacant and 30% of the population lived in slums.
Another major problem faced in urban areas was related to water. With 340 Lpcd (L per capita per day), Delhi still had acute water shortage while cities like Munich (132 Lpcd), Singapore (162 Lpcd) and Hong Kong (172 Lpcd) had water round the clock. He also said though 21% of Delhi's surface area was made up of roads, every year 300,000 new vehicles were added since the public transport system was poor.
Introducing 'SymbioCity', Mr. Fredrik Fexe, Trade Commissioner, Swedish Trade Council, Embassy of Sweden in New Delhi, said that the future challenges of urbanisation were huge. By 2030, 60% of world's population will live in urban areas; up from 37% in 1970 and 50% in 2007.
Rapid urbanisation led to waste, depletion of natural resources and air pollution. Mr Fexe advocated partnerships between different agencies and stakeholders to tackle this challenge.
Public-private partnerships, engagement of universities and research institutions for new solutions, could identify and create synergies between various urban management issues such as waste, air, water, energy, transport, and housing. Such an approach enabled Sweden to lower its oil consumption by 90% from the levels in 1972.
Earlier, welcoming the 150-strong audience consisting of industry, government, civil society, academia and media, Mr. V K Mathur - Chairman & Managing Director, Inapex Limited, identified Sweden as a country that had managed its environment well.
The problem of environment goes beyond energy that could be resolved through sources of technology, collaboration, and building brand equity. Sweden is a key source for India looking for long-term solutions to its environmental and urban development problems.
Mr Mathur called upon Swedish counterparts to advise Indian public and private sector on ways to design and implement projects that also addressed social and political dynamics. Specific to urban transport, he suggested that the solution was in creating large corporate structures to provide transport solutions as against leaving it to small entrepreneurs.
Sweden's Ambassador to India, Mr. Lars-Olof Lindgren, offered the vote of thanks. Other presenters later in the sessions in the technical session included Mr. Ravi Khanna (CEO - Moser Baer Photovoltaic Ltd.) Dr. Anders Nordstrom - ABB), Mr. Carl-Arne Lilliehook - Usitall, Mr. Christer Sundberg - MRT System International, Mr. Frederik Morsing - Scania and Mr. Christer Ojdemark - Envac.
The Minister provided some statistics to lend a perspective of the problem being faced by India. Some 300 million Indians - 30% of India's total - live in urban areas; this was the second largest number in the world.
India has 5,100 urban agglomerations, with 300 Class 1 cities / towns; 60% of total urban growth is concentrated here, and arefacing intense migration from rural areas. The strain on the urban centres is high since infrastructure is unable to keep pace with the increasing requirements of its inhabitants.
Mr. Maken went on to say that while there was a shortage of 24 million houses in India, 98% of this shortage is faced by the economically weak of our society. In Delhi, there were 3.3 million houses (2001 census), but 271,000 were vacant and 30% of the population lived in slums.
Another major problem faced in urban areas was related to water. With 340 Lpcd (L per capita per day), Delhi still had acute water shortage while cities like Munich (132 Lpcd), Singapore (162 Lpcd) and Hong Kong (172 Lpcd) had water round the clock. He also said though 21% of Delhi's surface area was made up of roads, every year 300,000 new vehicles were added since the public transport system was poor.
Introducing 'SymbioCity', Mr. Fredrik Fexe, Trade Commissioner, Swedish Trade Council, Embassy of Sweden in New Delhi, said that the future challenges of urbanisation were huge. By 2030, 60% of world's population will live in urban areas; up from 37% in 1970 and 50% in 2007.
Rapid urbanisation led to waste, depletion of natural resources and air pollution. Mr Fexe advocated partnerships between different agencies and stakeholders to tackle this challenge.
Public-private partnerships, engagement of universities and research institutions for new solutions, could identify and create synergies between various urban management issues such as waste, air, water, energy, transport, and housing. Such an approach enabled Sweden to lower its oil consumption by 90% from the levels in 1972.
Earlier, welcoming the 150-strong audience consisting of industry, government, civil society, academia and media, Mr. V K Mathur - Chairman & Managing Director, Inapex Limited, identified Sweden as a country that had managed its environment well.
The problem of environment goes beyond energy that could be resolved through sources of technology, collaboration, and building brand equity. Sweden is a key source for India looking for long-term solutions to its environmental and urban development problems.
Mr Mathur called upon Swedish counterparts to advise Indian public and private sector on ways to design and implement projects that also addressed social and political dynamics. Specific to urban transport, he suggested that the solution was in creating large corporate structures to provide transport solutions as against leaving it to small entrepreneurs.
Sweden's Ambassador to India, Mr. Lars-Olof Lindgren, offered the vote of thanks. Other presenters later in the sessions in the technical session included Mr. Ravi Khanna (CEO - Moser Baer Photovoltaic Ltd.) Dr. Anders Nordstrom - ABB), Mr. Carl-Arne Lilliehook - Usitall, Mr. Christer Sundberg - MRT System International, Mr. Frederik Morsing - Scania and Mr. Christer Ojdemark - Envac.
Confederation of Indian Industry
Popular News
Leave your Comments
Esteemed Clients
-Ltd..jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Thermore (Far East) Ltd.")
.jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Limited (TSllC Ltd)")
.jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Taiwan Textile Federation (TTF)")
