Nodal Institute: IIT Gandhinagar

Theme Overview

Smart Cities and Mobility solutions are central to addressing the challenges of rapid urbanization and climate change. As India’s cities expand, the demand for intelligent systems, sustainable transportation, and efficient infrastructure management becomes critical. The Smart Cities Mission has already created a strong foundation, and the next leap involves integrating advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), digital twins, and data-driven decision systems into everyday urban governance. This theme emphasizes the design and deployment of integrated urban solutions that improve livability, sustainability, and resilience. Focus areas include traffic and mobility management, disaster-resilient infrastructure, digital twins for city planning, and hyper-resolution modeling of floods and heat stress. With growing adoption of electric vehicles, mobility-as-a-service platforms, and charging infrastructure, the mobility sector is poised for significant transformation. Similarly, urban sensing, IoT-enabled monitoring, and predictive maintenance of infrastructure will reshape how cities manage resources and services. A critical component of this theme is climate resilience—embedding disaster risk reduction, heat-proofing, and water management solutions into urban planning. AI-powered decision support systems can help optimize public transport, reduce congestion, and enhance emergency response, while digital platforms can make citizen services more accessible and inclusive. Urban waste management and circular economy models also play a crucial role in minimizing environmental impacts while improving the quality of life. By encouraging ventures across Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) 3 to 9, this theme provides opportunities for startups, researchers, and industry partners to co-create future-ready solutions. These innovations will support India’s urban transition while ensuring inclusivity, environmental stewardship, and economic productivity.

Representative Focus Area   

• Digital twins for traffic, land-use planning, infrastructure health, and disaster resilience
• AI- and IoT-enabled urban sensing, monitoring, and predictive maintenance
• Disaster resilience and climate adaptation through hyper-resolution flood and heat-proofing models
• Smart and sustainable mobility, including public transport, intelligent traffic management, and electric vehicles
• Climate-smart and energy-efficient buildings with integrated green infrastructure
• Water, wastewater, and solid waste systems designed with circular economy principles
• Data-driven platforms for participatory governance, emergency response, and decision support

*Representative examples, not limited to these

Short Summary 

Smart Cities & Mobility highlights innovations from mobility platforms to disaster-resilient infrastructure. With emphasis on digital twins, hyper-resolution flood and heat-proofing, and AI- and IoT-enabled sensing, TRL 3–9 ventures are invited to co-create scalable solutions that strengthen livability, inclusivity, and resilience in India’s rapidly urbanizing cities.