Gurgaon, Faridabad to be developed as green cities

Gurgaon, Faridabad to be developed as green cities
The Financial Express, July 18, 2009, Page 8

fe Bureau, Chandigarh

Against a backdrop of hectic global parleys to neutralise the effects of climate change, the Haryana government has decided to develop Gurgaon and Faridabad as solar/green cities. These will be the first cities in Haryana to be brought under the development of solar cities programme, launched by the new and renewable energy ministry.

Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said the objective of the ambitious programme was to empower the urban local government to meet the energy challenges, reduce dependence on fossil fuel, expensive oil and gas for energy and also to promote increased use of renewable energy. In all, 60 cities, having a population of between five lakh and 50 lakh, would be supported for development as solar/green cities under this programme. The project aims at a minimum of 10% of energy consumption of selected cities coming from renewable energy and energy efficiency measures. "The state government would be assisted in preparation of a master plan for increasing energy efficiency and renewable energy supply in these cities, besides having in place institutional arrangements for implementation of the master plan," Hooda said.

The programme also aims at including proposals for carbon financing. The chief minister said the Centre would provide financial assistance to the tune of Rs 48 lakh each for development of Gurgaon and Faridabad as solar/green cities. Of this, Rs 8 lakh would be provided for preparation of the master plan, Rs 10 lakh each for setting up solar cells, its functioning and implementation over five years, while Rs 20 lakh would be given for other promotional activities.

Besides, financial assistance for installation of various renewable energy and energy conservation systems or projects would also be availed from the ongoing schemes of the Centre. Hooda said the first step under the programme was to prepare a five-year master plan having energy baseline for these cities, including sector-wise energy consumption matrix and energy supply mix for the base year for all the sectors, including residential, industrial, commercial, institutional and municipal, and demand forecasting for the next five years.