MoU to be signed on February 12.

The State government and the USTDA will sign an MoU on February 12 on development of smart city projects for Visakhapatnam.

There will be an investors’ meet with representatives of US companies and Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and the US Ambassador Richard Verma will participate, according to Municipal Commissioner Pravin Kumar.

Of the total of aid of US $5 million, in the first phase $1.6 million would be released. The rest of the aid would be released in two instalments, he told a press conference here on Friday. Representatives of 20 US companies will participate.

AECOM, KPMG and IBM, already short-listed, will analyse the data, study the existing infrastructure and prepare six project reports on water supply, environment, land use plan, mobility etc.

The projects would pave the way for the overall development of the entire city with PPP projects.

Visakhapatnam is one of three cities to be developed as a smart city with technical assistance of the US.

The other two are Ajmer and Allahabad.

THE HINDU