Priti Patel lends UK support to India to build smart cities
On her first day of visit to India, UK Cabinet Minister lent support to build smart cities and boost job opportunities in the country.
M Venkaiah Naidu and Priti Patel
The UK will share its skills and expertise to drive forward India’s vision for new smart cities and boost opportunities for new businesses, UK International Development Secretary Priti Patel announced today.
On the first day of her visit to India, the UK International Development Secretary met with the Minister for Urban Development Shri Venkaiah Naidu. She said that the UK’s support for India’s urban development will generate new job opportunities for India’s poorest, strengthening the UK-India partnership that was set out during Prime Minister Modi’s historic visit to the UK last year.
International Development Secretary Priti Patel said:
I am here meeting my ministerial counterparts to make sure that the UK’s skills and expertise in areas like finance, job creation and infrastructure are used to support Prime Minister Modi’s ambitious plans for the economic development of India’s great and burgeoning cities.
We will help India to make its urbanisation work and make cities real engines of growth by boosting business and creating employment - not least by ensuring British businesses are aware of the opportunities that exist for them by getting involved in this ambitious work.
It’s by working together on long-term projects like this and involving the private sector that we will take our strong partnership to the next level to deliver prosperity, investment opportunities and growth for both India and the UK.
The UK support announced by Priti Patel will come from the UK’s Department for International Development and includes technical support for India’s ‘Smart Cities Mission’ which will see British expertise boost urban development in India by helping plan, design and build smart cities, which will in turn create jobs, growth and prosperity for both India and the UK. It will bring UK experience in areas such as infrastructure, clean energy, governance, security, water and waste management.
UK Secretary of State Priti Patel will continue her visit to India tomorrow (Saturday 13 August), where she will further build on the important partnership between the UK and India.
Further information:
- the UK is already supporting Prime Minister’s Modi’s agenda for economic growth in several ways including:
- agreeing more than £9bn commercial deals during his visit in November 2015 spanning a range of sectors
- establishing a new Ease of Doing Business Partnership and a reconstituted India-UK CEOs Forum.
- during PM Modi’s visit three UK-India City Partnerships were announced with Indore, Pune and Amaravati.
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