The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its ex post-facto approval to the MoU between India and Singapore on cooperation in the field of urban planning and development. The MoU was signed on 31^st May 2018.

The objective of the MOU is to facilitate government agencies in the Centre and States, including Municipal Bodies, to readily tap into the expertise of Singapore agencies in the areas of urban development and management and other areas, and thus help in urban rejuvenation, mission. This will also facilitate to build capacities in NITI and equip the officials with skills related to evidence based policy writing, evaluation etc. and help NITI to play the newly assigned role of a Think Tank in a more effective manner.

Under this MOU, capacity building programme in the field of planning, focusing on areas of urban planning, water and waste water management, solid waste management, Intelligent Transport System and public financing (Public Private Partnerships) would be undertaken.

Major Impact:

This MOU would lead to dissemination of knowledge of best practices, build capacities and provide hand holding support to various government agencies at the State and Central levels in the areas of urban planning, water and waste water management, solid waste management, Intelligent Transport System and public financing (Public Private Partnerships).

Beneficiaries:

The officials from Central Government, State Government and Urban Local Bodies would directly benefit by enhancing their knowledge base which would ultimately get manifested in the improvement in the urban civic amenities.

Cooperation in urban planning enables capacity building and technical assistance for urban development and infrastructure management. Cabinet approved a bilateral MoU with Singapore to enable government agencies to access Singaporean expertise and to implement a capacity building programme in urban planning, water and wastewater management, solid waste management, Intelligent Transport Systems and public financing to strengthen evidence based policy, evaluation and the role of a national planning body as a think tank.