Canadian Consul General Sidney Frank feels the need for more clarity on what would constitute a smart city in India. Yet, the lack of a precise definition should not come in the way of improving the infrastructure.

“We don’t have a precise definition of a smart city,” he told The Hindu on Monday in Hyderabad, where he has brought a delegation of Canadian companies keen on participating in the smart city project.

Agreeing that “more clarity will be helpful,” Mr. Frank, who heads the Consulate office in Bengaluru, said there were so many areas where infrastructure needs to be improved in cities. These range from electrical grids to how cities handle waste, solid and water waste.

“I think it is possible to move ahead and don’t need to wait until there is a clear definition,” he declared, adding Canadian companies have the expertise in developing smart cities and ready to share it with Indian companies. In Canada, the development of smart cities, some of them consistently lauded as the most liveable in the world, was organic. They evolved with time, he said, pointing out that India’s challenge is to improve cities.