CHANDIGARH, 22.04.22-Greater Chandigarh Region is an excellent idea propagated by CII and we are willing to take up and spearhead this with Government of India, said Mr Dharam Pal, Adviser to Administrator, UT Chandigarh during the Special Plenary Session on ‘Sustainable & Smart Urban Infrastructure : Greater Chandigarh Region organised by CII in Chandigarh. This Plenary Session was part of the roadshow in the city to announce EXCON 2022 which witnessed the participation of senior officials from the Chandigarh Administration and Government of Punjab and Haryana along with industry leaders and stakeholders from the infrastructure and construction equipment sector. EXCON, South Asia’s largest construction equipment and construction technology trade fair, organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is scheduled to be held from 17 - 21 May 2022 at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre, Bengaluru.

ATricity Coordination Committee is already in place to resolve numerous common issues which are being faced by the region, said Mr Pal. For holistic development of the area, there is a need to ensure policy initiatives such as common building byelaws for Chandigarh, Mohali (Punjab) and Panchkula (Haryana) and setting up of a comprehensive regional mobility plan; amongst others, he added.

To promote new paradigms of governance, the Administration has undertaken several initiatives towards ensuring sustainable and smart urban infrastructure, said Mr Pal. In this regard, the Administration has rolled out a draft e-vehicle policy recently which will promote the Electric Vehicles in the city, where apart from exemption from road tax, the policy incentivizes adoption of all types of EVs in city, he added. On addressing the issue of waste management in Chandigarh, Mr Pal said that a new Construction and Demolition (C&D) Waste Management Policy has been approved for Chandigarh which will primarily focus on processing the waste that is being generated in the city and use it to make recycled items such as gravel and slabs, which can be used in the construction of roads.

Promoting sustainability in the city, Mr Debendra Dalai, Chief Executive Officer, CREST informed that Chandigarh Administration is promoting implementation of renewable energy in the city through scheme to implement rooftop solar project on private residential buildings under the Renewable Energy Service Company (RESCO) model. It is expected to generate around 75 MW of RE from residential buildings, he added.

The Administration further plans to speed up rainwater harvesting by harvesting every drop of rainwater. There is already ample water harvesting opportunities in public spaces, the need of the hour is to promote harvesting in private building, he added. On promotion of Electric Vehicles in the city, Mr Dalai informed that around 20 charging stations have already been installed in the city and around 100 new charging stations are expected to be set up in the city in the next 2 years.

On development of Greater Chandigarh Region, Mr P P Singh, Chief Town Planner, Town and Country Planning Department, Government of Haryana expressed that it is only a matter of time that Greater Chandigarh Region will be set up for the holistic development of Chandigarh and surrounding areas. On the lines of the NCR planning board, the Tricity Coordination Committee can undertake initiatives such as RRTS transport, water supply, improvement of quality of air etc for the holistic development of the region, he added.

Mr Pankaj Bawa, Chief Town Planner, Town & Country Planning Department, Government of Punjab highlighted that the development of Chandigarh Airport at Mohali has been a game changer in attracting investments in the city. In order to develop Mohali as one of India’s sustainable and smart city, the state government has already hired MIS Jurong International for preparing the regional development plan and the master plans of the areas and towns situated within the jurisdiction of GMADA. Promoting regional coordination, Mr Bawa shared that the Solid Waste Management Plant at Derabassi will also accommodate the treatment of solid wastegenerated in Chandigarh.

Mr V G Sakthi Kumar, Member, Excon 2021 Steering Committee & Managing Director Schwing Stetter (India) Pvt. Ltd shared that EXCON endeavours to build India’s infrastructure in an ecologically sustainable manner, enabling projects on Smart Cities, supporting Swachh Bharat programs, promoting skill development and positioning ‘Make In India’ – as the National Agenda for achieving holistic growth in the infrastructure and related sectors.

The theme of this year’s edition will be ‘Building India for a New World: Competitiveness, Growth, Sustainability, Technology’. Some of the highlights of EXCON includes exclusive focus on Alternate Fuels, Ai Pavilion, Finance Plaza, Skills, Women operating construction equipment and machinery, Equal opportunity awards for women, MSMEs, Digital Transformation besides sustainability & safety among others, he added

Mr Vivek Gupta, Vice Chairman, CII Chandigarh UT & Director, NEC Packaging Ltdsaid,leading construction equipment manufacturers at the exhibition will demonstrate the versatility of machines, sophistication in construction technologies and more importantly showcase the costeffective solutions.Indian Construction Equipment Manufactures' Association is the Sector Partner and the National Highways Authority of India and Builders Association of India are the supporting Partners for EXCON, he added.

The Special Plenary was Moderated by Mr Manish Gupta, Immediate Past Chairman of CII Chandigarh UT.