Sir — This refers to the editorial, “Waiting to materialise” (January 29). The US has agreed to work with New Delhi and the Indian States to develop Ajmer, Allahabad and Visakhapatnam as smart cities, while Japan has been cooperating to develop Varanasi and the Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor to contain seven new smart cities.
A few other countries have shown interest in this mega project of planning 100 cities with modern infrastructural facilities, smart IT, industrial hubs and other ultra-modern amenities. Ultimately, the project of smart cities will bring about further economic and social growth. The idea of 100 smart cities is unique and will reduce the load of the existing cities, which can then in turn lead to balanced and sustainable growth across the country.