MHI and Gujarat State of India Sign MOU,
Reaching Agreement in the Creation of Smart Community

The MOU was signed in Gandhinagar, capital of Gujarat State, where an investment promotion seminar of the state; 5th "Vibrant Gujarat Summits" is currently being held, by A.K. Sharma, CEO of the Gujarat Infrastructure Development Board (GIDB); Amitabh Kant, CEO and Managing Director of DMICDC, and Yoshiaki Tsukuda, Executive Vice President and General Manager of MHI’s Power Systems Headquarters.

Current plans call for the Smart Community to be established in Sanand and Changodar in Gujarat State, a key industrial area in northwestern India. The Smart Community plan is a part of DMICDC's grand plan to develop the regions in the corridor between Delhi and Mumbai, which include industrial parks, power plants, airports, ports, railways, roads and commercial facilities. The MHI-led five-company consortium targets business development opportunities in high-efficiency power generation systems leveraging natural gas and power generation systems using renewable energies, such as solar thermal, as well as promoting electrification in the transportation sector.

Specifically, the parties signing the MOU will endeavor to conduct a joint study on township grand design, the basic design of utility services and public-private partnership projects business scheme design for the Smart Community in the Sanand Industrial Area as a first show case, taking the results of a preliminary survey and feasibility study currently being conducted by the consortium regarding the next-generation urban town concept into account.

The Smart Community project of Gujarat, for which the MOU was signed, is based on the joint statement made at the Japan–India Annual Bilateral Summit held in December 2009 that pledged Japan’s contribution to the promotion of a Smart Community and a Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development plan. Since the Summit, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) and DMICDC have been conducting specific discussions. METI is currently proposing to the Indian government to utilize a bilateral carbon-offset mechanism to concurrently achieve sustainable economic growth and a low-carbon community.

MHI will vigorously engage in the project, together with the four other consortium member companies, and aims to create a new business model that leverages Japan’s advanced energy-saving, low-carbon technologies.