Corpn vies for French fund to build stadium

A Chennai Corporation official said that the French Development Agency is conducting a competition among 100 Indian cities that are undergoing a revamp under Smart City Mission. “The union ministry of housing and urban development along with AFD and European Union (EU) had started City Investments to Innovate, Integrate and Sustain (CITIIS) Challenge and asked the smart cities to submit their proposals for innovative projects. The winning proposals will get funding from AFD and EU over the next three years,” a Chennai Smart City Limited official said.

In addition to the multi-purpose stadium, the Chennai Corporation has also submitted proposals to implement augmented reality and virtual reality, expansion of smart classes and multi-modal integration of transport facilities.

As per the conditions of the CITIIS Challenge, the participating cities should submit the proposals for new projects across four themes such as sustainable mobility, public open spaces, eGovernance and information and communication technology (ICT).

“The AFD will select 15 projects across the country and provide funds. We had submitted four proposals, including the one for a multi-purpose sports stadium in Sholinganallur, in November and are awaiting the results. The results are expected in a few months,” the official added.

According to the official, the civic body would develop a smartphone application (if the project gets AFD fund) to provide a virtual tour of the city under augmented reality and virtual reality project. “We have already implemented 28 smart classrooms in the city. A proposal for the expansion has been submitted,” he added.

Under the multi-model integration of transport facilities, MRTS, suburban rail transport, bus transport would be integrated to provide last mile connectivity.

Even though the AFD and EU would fund only 15 projects across the country, the official expressed optimism that all the projects submitted by the Chennai Corporation would win the competition and receive funds. “As of now, we have only proposed the plans and their feasibility. Cost of the projects will only be estimated after our proposals get AFT approval,” the official said.