The city of Cochin, India, has teamed up with ICLEI South Asia and started its activities to become a Solar City, following the steps already taken by other Indian cities, such as Agra, Aizawl, Bhubaneswar, Chamoli Gopeshwar, Coimbatore, Gurgaon, Imphal, Kalyan Dombivli, Howrah, Kohima, Nagpur, Rajkot and Thane.

As part of its plan to develop 60 Solar Cities in India, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) provides financial assistance and technical help to cities for the preparation of a master plan for increasing renewable energy supply and energy efficiency measures in the city, setting up institutional arrangements for the implementation of the master plan, carrying out awareness generation and capacity building activities and implementing projects under various programmes of the MNRE.

The city has appointed ICLEI South Asia to support them in the development of its Solar City Master Plans. “We are honoured to be part of the 60 municipalities in India that will become Solar Cities in the next 5 years.” Commented Cochin’s Mayor, Shri. Tony Chammani “ICLEI South Asia’s expertise and support will ensure that the City of Cochin will achieve the targets set by the MNRE for this group of ambitious cities.”

Once the formal agreement with ICLEI South Asia is signed, the city will start its activities towards a 10% reduction in projected demand of conventional energy at the end of five years