Ravinder Pal Singh, Consulting Director, Smart Cities, Cisco Systems, demystifies what smart cities are all about, what needs to be done to reach the target and go beyond.

Pratap Padode, Founder & Director, Smart Cities Council India, talks about the Council´s capacity building programmes and issues ranging from technology to finance.

Sudhir Mungantiwar, Minister of Finance, Planning & Forests, Government of Maharashtra, makes significant revelations about the state finances and also discusses smart cities and GST.

Paramprit Bakshi, Associate General Manager, CAPA, opines that for the aviation industry to gain momentum, a transition from ad-hoc decision making to a rule-based operating environment is a pre-requisite.

Srinivas Bommidala, Group Director, GMR Group, talks about the long-term impacts of privatisation of airports, withdrawal of service tax exemption and the ´Make in India´ campaign as well as the growth potential of the industry.

Sunil Srivastava, Managing Director, Balaji Railroad Systems Ltd, comments on the dismal state of the Indian Railways, delayed projects, and the government´s role in improving the sector.

Vikram Amin, Executive Director, Strategy & Business Development, Essar Steel India Ltd, expects domestic demand to start picking up given the accelerated GDP growth.

While acknowledging the bottlenecks, Shashi Kiran Shetty, Founder and Chairman, Allcargo Logistics, expects that positive governance will bring a new wave in the Indian logistics industry.

Addressing issues of water scarcity and contamination of surface and ground water, AB Pandya, Chairman, Central Water Commission, paints a holistic picture and suggests remedies.