The U.S.-India State and Urban Initiative announces three new partnerships

The U.S.-India State and Urban Initiative, led by the CSIS Wadhwani Chair in U.S.-India Policy Studies and the CSIS Energy and National Security Program, announced three new projects with the state government of Maharashtra, India, as part of the initiative’s ongoing work.

1. The government of Maharashtra and the Network for Global Innovation (NGIN) will sign an agreement to develop a clean tech incubator ecosystem in the state of Maharashtra to accelerate adoption of sustainable technologies and encourage growth of trade and investment of these technologies. The parties will collaborate on the development and implementation of the “High Performance Innovation Ecosystem,” including planning, funding, build-out, and ongoing operations. The agreement also invites a Maharashtra-based designate of the government to become a member of NGIN.
2. Georgia Tech (Georgia Institute of Technology)will launch a new pilot research project to understand the consumer dynamics and consumers’ responsiveness to adoption of new technologies in the electricity sector in Maharashtra. The project, The Impact of Consumer Behavior on Efficiency and Sustainability in India’s Power Sector, will be led by Georgia Tech’s Assistant Professor Anjali Thomas Bohlken and Associate Professor Usha Nair-Reichert and is also supported by the Strategic Energy Initiative at Georgia Tech.
3. Pune, Maharashtra, was announced as India’s first Lighthouse City as a result of a Grand Challenge competition launched in 2017 by NITI Aayog and Colorado-based Rocky Mountain Institute.  A Lighthouse City has demonstrated that it has smart urban development with population density of greater than one million that needs diverse modes of passenger transportation. The Lighthouse City is supported by an Urban Mobility Lab that in Pune will be initially hosted by the Pune Municipal Corporation starting in August 2018. The lab will advance the design, integration, and implementation of new solutions for complex transportation challenges, as well as how these ideas can be replicated and scaled. The goal: to demonstrate ways to upgrade transportation services to meet the needs of rapidly growing cities, while showing operational efficiency and reduction of pollution, congestion, and petroleum demand.

These announcements were made during the visit of Shri Devendra Fadnavis, honorable chief minister of Maharashtra, to Washington D.C., when he attended a public forum on June 14 cohosted by the CSIS Wadhwani Chair and the India Initiative at Georgetown University to outline his vision for the state of Maharashtra.