EDITORS NOTE

There was good news on the investment front for India as a latest Ernst & Young (EY) report singled out the country as the most attractive destination for investments, for at least the next few years. It comes as a clear sign that the government's various initiatives and schemes are beginning to bear fruit.Most of the investors surveyed by EY zeroed in on the infrastructure sector, with the much-hyped 100 Smart Cities project highlighted as the most promising in terms of pumping in the funds required to set India on the fast-track of growth and job creation.Our October edition of the 'India Investment Journal' coincidentally also takes a microscopic view of this ambitious programme to transform India's urban landscape into truly modern cities ready to compete with any global powerhouse. We take a wide-angle view of the international investors who have handpicked focus areas in specific cities to partner with on their path to smartening up their act.The Smart Cities agenda is, of course, inextricably linked with the government's other flagship programmes of Clean India, Digital India and Make in India. A city cannot lay stake to any degree of smartness if its transport network is not geared towards meeting the global emissions targets for smart transportation. Renewable sources of energy, therefore, have a far broader role to play in terms of a city that aspires to a clean and smart status. Waste management, digital urban land management and urban transportation are just some of the pieces of a larger puzzle that need to fall into place.Most recently, Sweden became the latest European nation to reach out to Mumbai to offer its expertise on the city's agenda for development. The UK has also taken the lead by releasing 'India's Smart Cities Programme: The UK Offer to Build Together' , which claims to offer an analysis of UK strengths against the current skills gap in Indian smart cities, opening up significant opportunities for UK companies to engage in the Indian Smart City market.But as always this edition is packed with a wealth of expert views and interviews around other key milestones in India's inward investment journey.

Aditi Khanna is the Senior Editor of India Inc.