Solar Cities and Akshayurja shops

“solar cities “  and  “akshayurja shops”

Government of india’s initiates to encourage generation of electricity in the field of renewable energy

Solar cities:

            due to rapid industriliation,economic development and urbanization causes rapid rise in energy demand in our urban areas and in indusrty which results in enhancement of green house gas emissions.the local governments and the electricity utilities are finding it difficult to cope with this rapid rise in demand and as a result most of the cities are facing electricity shortages ,in this context ,the “development of solar cities “ programme is designed to encourage urban local bodies to prepare a road map to guide their cities in becoming ‘solar cities”

            the solar city aims at minimum 10% reduction in projected demand of conventional energy at the end of five years, through a combination of enhancing supply from renewable energy sources in the city . The basic aim is to motivate the local governments for adopting   renewable energy technologies and energy efficiency measures. In solar city  all  types of renewable  energy based projects like  solar,wind ,biomass,smallhydro,waste to energy  installed alongwith possible energy efficinecy measures depending on the need and resource availbility in the city.

            identification  of the cities depend  upon city population and commitment  for adoption of renewable energy and energy conservation in the city activites ,initiatives already taken by city council in promoting renewable  energy and energy conservation ,regulatory measures taken on deployment of renewable energy technologies and theirs willingness to provide resources and sustenance of activites initiated under the program. The cities population between 0.50  lakh to 50 lakh ,however relaxation could be considered for special category states including north-eastern states and hilly states ,islands and union territories.

            a total of 60 cities are proposed to be supported for development as solar cities during the 12^th plan period .at  least one city in each state to a maximum of five cities in a state may be supported  by the ministry.

Objectives of the solar city programmes:

o   To enable  and empower urban local governments  to address energy challenges at city level

o   To provide a framework and support to prepare a master plan including assessment of current energy   situation, future demand and action plans.

o   To build capacity in the urban local bodies and create awareness among all sections of the civil society

o   To involve various stakeholders in the planning process

o   To oversee the implementation of sustainable energy options through public-private partnerships

Assistance to urban local governments:

o   Preparation of a master plan for increasing renewable energy supply and energy efficiency mesures in the city.

o   Setting up institutional arrangments for the implementation of the master plan.

o   Awareness generation and capacity building activites .

o   Implementation of projects as per financial incentives under various programmes of mnre.

Financial assistance under sola city programme:

o   Up to rs.50.00 lakhs per city is provided depending upon population and initiatives decided to be taken by the city council as following details.

o   Up to rs.10.00 lakhs for preparation of a master plan   within a year alongwith few implementable detailed project reports.

o   Up to rs.10.00 lakhs for oversight of implementation during three years.

o   Up to rs.20.00 lakhs for capacity building and other promotional activites to be utilized in three years.

There are 48 cities to be identifies as solar cities

Agra,moradabad,rajkot,gandhinagar,surat,nagpur,kalyan-dombiwali,thane,nanded.aurangabad,indore,gwalior,bhopal,imphal,kohima.dimapur,dehradun,haridwar-rishikesh,chamoli-gopeshwar,chandigarh,gurgaon,faridabad,coimbatore,vijaywada,bilaspur,raipur,agartala,guwahati,jorhat,hubli,maysore,thiruvananthapuram,amritsar,ludhiana.ajmer ,jaipur,  jodhpur,       bhubaneswar

Aizawl, panjicity ,itanagar, hamirpur ,shimla,kochi,howrah,rewa

Akshayurja shops                  

The ministry has been promoting the establishment of aditya solar shops in major cities of the country since 1995 with a view to make solar energy products easily available and to provide easy after sales repair services.under the present scheme ,the shops are renamed as “akshayurja shops “with a view to cover wider sale and service of all renewable energy devices and systems including solar energy products .the network of the shops will be expanded by encouraging private enterpreneurs and ngos to set up and operate such shops in all districts of the country.

The main objective of the programme is to support the establishment of one shop in each district for creation of a network of retail outlets in form of “akshayurja shops “ in all the districts for sale and service of solar energy and other renewable energy products.

By these solar cities and akshayurja shops government  try to reduce consumption of fuel like coal,crude oil ,gas etc.

Through implementing these schemes urban local bodies are capable to fulfill the requirements of the urban area and reduce the carbon emmissions and make the atmosphere pollution free and comfortable.