According to officials, the Centre of Excellence (CoE) that would address the issues surrounding sustainable cities will be headed by the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT-K). It will be a component of the "Make AI in India, Make AI Work for India" campaign of the Union Ministry of Education.

The CoE will concentrate on applying artificial intelligence (AI) to solve the problems associated with sustainable cities, under the direction of Prof. Sachchida Nand Tripathi, dean of IIT Kanpur's School of Sustainability. It will address challenges such as air quality, urban floods, energy forecasting, and the creation of digital twins for city administration and transportation.

It will be led by IIT Kanpur, with IISc Benagluru, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Gandhinagar, NIT Calicut, and IIIT Delhi serving as additional academic partners. Additionally, a number of well-known industries are partners. It will function as a cohesive team where startups, industry, and academia collaborate.

In order to build more resilient and habitable cities, the team will construct cutting-edge AI solutions. This project has the potential to significantly impact the lives of millions of Indians while showcasing AI's ability to address pressing issues and build a more sustainable future. Building smarter, more resilient cities that can handle the needs of a rapidly urbanising population is the goal of this approach.