15 New Solar Cities Proposed in India

ICLEI South Asia has been recommended by the The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government of India, to prepare the Master Plan for the new Solar Cities programme. Solar Cities has been sanctioned under the 11th Five Year Plan. The objective of the programme is to support Urban Local Bodies to prepare a road map to guide their cities in becoming renewable energy cities or Solar Cities.

The MNRE has identified 15 cities namely, Agra, Moradabad, Rajkot, Gandhinagar, Nagpur, Kalyan-Dombivili, Indore, Imphal, Kohima, Dehradun, Chandigarh, Gurgaon, Coimbatore, Vijayawada and Thane for development.

ICLEI South Asia is currently contracted by Agra, Nagpur, Kalyan-Dombivili, Imphal, Kohima and Thane to prepare the Master Plan for their cities.

Dr. Dinesh Brahmbhatt, IAS, Commissioner, Rajkot Municipal Corporation, presented the Solar Cities programme  at the Local Renewables 2009 Conference held in Freiburg from 27 to 29 April.