The Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur on Friday inked a deal with Japan’s Nikken Sekkei Research Institute (NSRI) to plan, design and implement smart technologies to develop sustainable habitats for India’s smart city growth.

IIT-Kharagpur’s Ranbir and Chitra Gupta School of Infrastructure Design and Management (RCGSIDM), in association with the department of architecture and regional planning (ARP), has picked up the challenge to re-address the dimensions of smart city growth based on twin concerns: sustainable infrastructure and liveable habitat, officials said.

Under the Memorandum of Understanding signed on Friday, collaborative projects such bullet train, other smart transportation technologies and smart agriculture will be brought in.

“This MoU targets design, planning and implementation of such projects and technologies for sustainable cities. Japan has the expertise in smart technologies and we are banking on our cultural history to take the relationship forward,” said IIT-Kharagpur director Partha Pratim Chakrabarti.