Question : SOLAR CITIES



(a) the criteria fixed by the Government to declare a city as a solar city in the country;and

(b) the details of the cities which have been identified by the Government to be developed as solar cities in the country?

Answer given by the minister


MINISTER OF THE STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF NEW AND RENEWABLE ENERGY (SHRI VILAS MUTTEMWAR)

(a): The criteria fixed by the Ministry for developing an identified city as solar city is to reduce a minimum of 10% of its projected demand of conventional energy at the end of five years in their Master Plans through energy efficiency measures and generation from renewable energy installations.These cities will have a population between 0.5 to 5 million with relaxation given to special category States including North - East States.

(b): Based on the scheme guidelines and the cities identified by State Governments, so far `in principle1 approval has been given to 15 cities namely, Agra, Moradabad, Rajkot, Gandhinagar, Nagpur, Kalyan-Dombiwali, Indore, Imphal, Kohima, Dehradun, Chandigarh, Gurgaon, Coimbatore, Vashakhapattanam and Thane for preparing their Master Plans.