India needs to create smart villages, not just smart cities: Anand Mahindra

Mumbai: Mahindra and Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra said here on Wednesday that India needed to create smart villages and not just smart cities in order to lead the technology boom.

"We should think of smart villages not just smart cities. Why shouldn`t India lead the technology boom, costs are coming down," Mahindra said at the State Bank of India (SBI) Banking and Economics Conclave.

"We have to find a way to squeeze the middle segment, which will be through manufacturing. Simply find a village and put a 3D printer there without any preconceived notions. And see what the craftsmen do with it," he added.

Mahindra said that local people in villages can generate employment if given opportunities.

"It involves proximate manufacturing, taking manufacturing to villages. We are trying it out with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)," he said.

Lauding the government`s Make in India programme and efforts at ease of doing business, he said, "we have climbed the ranks. NITI Aayog and government is planning right."