South Korea today expressed its willingness to provide technology as well as finance to build the first of its kind smart city in India at New Chandigarh besides providing LED and safe city solutions for Ludhiana and Amritsar.This offer was extended by Korea Telecom to a high level Punjab delegation led by Deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal here.Sukhbir Badal during his tour of the Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ) operational centre here asked Korea Telecom officials to submit a proposal for developing New Chandigarh as a smart city. He said this could an ideal showcase for a smart city model in India as all necessary smart city solutions could be installed in New Chandigarh which was being built from scratch.
Mr Badal also proposed a twin project for Ludhiana and Amritsar whereby LED lights and safe city features could be linked on one pole. The Deputy CM made this suggestion to Korea Telecom when the company disclosed that it would run its proposed LED lights through network. This, it said, would also allow installation of safe city features like CCTV cameras and license plate recognition systems on the same poles.Korea Telecom Director Ilhwan Park disclosed that his company already had a business model in place under which loan could be given to investors from the Exim bank in Korea. He said the company was ready to consider other business models including consultancy as well as installing and running of smart cities and LED and safe city projects.Giving detail of the Songdo smart city which is part of the Incheon free economic zone, officials disclosed that 317 cameras installed in the city monitored air and water levels besides monitoring transport and giving real time information to people about accidents or traffic jams. They said besides this all information about incoming vehicles was assessed to know if any vehicle had been involved in a crime.
Meanwhile the Deputy CM also visited Maeil Dairies, one of the largest milk producing units in South Korea. Following the visit Mr Badal said Punjab could upgrade its milk producing cooperative Milkfed and its Verka milk plants by using technology and best practices perfected by Maeil Dairy. Plants in line for upgradation include the Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Bathinda, Patiala and Mohali milk plants.During his tour of the milk plant, the Deputy CM was shown how the plant used modern technology including assembly lines to bottle and package milk as well as other value added products like cafe latte and yoghurt.Maeil Dairies managing director Oh Ik Chong disclosed the dairy was producing 62 lakh litres of milk and processed around 8 lakh liters. He said the company owned 120 farms having 40,000 cows and also purchased milk from private producers.The Deputy CM was accompanied by Industrial Advisor to the Chief Minister - Kamal Oswal, chief parliamentary secretary N K Sharma, Media Advisor to the Deputy CM - Jangveer Singh, industrialist Sanjiv Garg of Garg Acrylics and senior officials including Mr Viswajeet Khanna, P S Aujla, Anirudh Tewari and Rahul Tewari.