Members of AMCHAM’s Infrastructure and Smart Cities Committee met under the chairmanship of Mr. Arun Kumar Jain, Managing Director, Fluor Daniel India, on 26th March at the office of Fluor Daniel. The meeting was co-chaired by Dr. Jaijit Bhattacharya, Partner, KPMG and Mr. Samit Ray, Director, Government Affairs, United Technologies Corporation. Since the last committee meeting, Mr. Sameer Jain, Director, Smart Cities, KPMG, shared the smart city proposals and their specifications.

Members animatedly discussed the restrictions U.S. companies were operating within, what was holding them back from bidding or participating in any other manner in the contracts for smart cities, the concept of open loop standards for payments in smart cities and difficulties in obtaining licenses. The committee felt that Indian companies do not bother about scope of liability when they sign the contracts. It was decided to send representations for this issue to the Ministry. It was recommended to reach out to the cities of Ajmer and Allahabad for contracts.