New Delhi [India], May 30 : For the implementation of the Varanasi Smart City project, the Varanasi Municipal Corporation (VMC) appointed consortium of three reputed firms as Project Management Consultants -Rudrabhishek Enterprises Pvt.
Ltd. (REPL), Grant Thornton and ABN consulting. The agreement was signed last week in Varanasi by the Municipal Commissioner Hari Pratap Sahi. REPL was represented by Harish Kumar Sharma, VP- Group Infrastructure and BD. In the Varanasi Smart City, approach of Area Based Development (ABD) will be taken, along with the pan city solutions.
The plan, spreading over a total of 1389 acres, will include retrofitting of old city along river Ganga comprising of major temples and heritage sites, with emphasis on socio-economic growth.
Massive citizen engagement program was undertaken to determine the priority areas. Consultants will prepare detailed project reports (DPR) on various components such as water supply and sewerage systems, intelligent traffic management, smart security system, heritage conservation, tourism promotion activities and so on.
The vision of Varanasi Smart City is to rejuvenate the oldest living Indian city of Varanasi as a great place to live and visit by conserving and showcasing its enriched heritage, culture, spirituality and traditions through innovative social and financial inclusion solutions.
"The Varanasi Smart City is certainly going to be uniquely challenging for us. While keeping the core essence of the city intact, we have to make the city smart, so that it becomes a model for replication.
I hope we would also be able to leverage our experience and learning on our other Smart City consultancy works in Indore and Bhopal," said Pradeep Misra, CMD of REPL, in an official statement.
REPL is India's leading integrated real estate and infrastructure consultant which has continuous engagement in smart city mission of the Centre.
Presently, with its consortium partner, REPL is also providing project management consultancy on Smart City Indore.
In the very first list of 20 smart cities announced by the Centre, the plan prepared by the REPL consortium for Smart City Bhopal was selected.
The group has provided similar consultancy in other parts of country, such as 2021 redevelopment plan for the walled city of Delhi.
REPL consortium will assist the Varanasi Smart City Ltd. in various phases of project implementation, which will include activities such as preparation of DPR, coordination with various appointed consultants, project prioritisation and phasing, preparing capital investment plan and overall project management.
Source: ANI
