“ICLEI has helped me to build capacity to act in an innovative manner. It is helping me fulfill my dreams to make my city clean, green and livable.”

What would you describe as Kota’s main achievements in the field of sustainability?

Kota has been a part of the ‘Development of Solar Cities’ programme sanctioned by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy in India, which has supported our city in the preparation of a road map to become a Renewable Energy City or Solar City. A solar power generating unit (100) kwh is being installed on the rooftop of the Municipal Corporation building – again the first time such initiative happens in the state. Designing and implementation of a biomethanisation plant is in progress which will help the city in generation of power using the biogas that will be generated from this plant.

How has ICLEI South Asia’s support helped you achieve these goals?

ICLEI has supported us in many ways. Through them, we had the opportunity to learn more about the process of improving the creditworthiness and access to finance of Kota for climate-related infrastructure, by being a part of the Second City Creditworthiness Academy which was held in Seoul, South Korea. Kota is also being assessed for its green growth potential and opportunities under the ‘Urban Green Growth Strategies for Indian Cities’. Under the project “Integrating urban climate guidelines through clean technologies (RE & EE) at the state and city level to build sustainable low carbon cities” an inventory has been prepared to measure greenhouse gas emissions in the city.  ICLEI has also helped us gain international exposure by enabling us to participate in numerous events and workshops. In addition, the team from ICLEI visits Kota regularly to explore opportunities to develop projects in the city to make it cleaner, greener and healthier.