Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): With Sanchi becoming the first solar city of the country, the department of energy is now eying to develop five more places of the state as solar cities.
The authorities at the department are mulling over a comprehensive plan to cater to the power needs of five more places of the state through solar energy. The plan is in gestation period and would take time to come on the table.
A senior officer of the department said that four small cities and one big city have been selected under the proposed plan. Mandu, Khajuraho, Orchha and Omkareshwar have been proposed in the category of small towns to be illuminated through solar energy. Indore figures in the category of big city, which would meet its energy demand from non-renewable energy resources i.e. solar energy.
The work on the four small towns will be undertaken simultaneously and it would take at least one and half years to become a solar city. However, the plan to make Indore a solar city would take around 3 to 4 years as it is one of the biggest cities of the state.
Energy department principal secretary of the , Sanjay Dubey, told Free Press, “ We have successfully developed Sanchi as the first solar city of the country. We hope to make it the first net-zero city of the country. In the process, we have seen several challenges and solutions as well. Now we are pondering making more such cities to meet their requirement through renewable resources”.
The sources in the energy department said that once the plan is rolled out then only it could be assessed how the things would be worked out to turn the selected cities as solar cities. Thereafter the possibilities of getting the finances will be explored, he added.
In Sanchi, solar energy is being purchased from NHDC. It is most likely that this model could be implemented in the other proposed cities which would be meeting their energy demand through solar energy.
