Before Ayodhya, came Sanchi: Which Indian cities are transitioning into solar cities?

Sanchi town in Madhya Pradesh, famed for its UNESCO World Heritage site Stupa, has been crowned as India's first Solar City in September 2023. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

While Ayodhya’s move to become a solar-powered city has grabbed headlines due to the consecration of the controversial Ram Temple, few know that the historic town of Sanchi in Madhya Pradesh, famed for its UNESCO World Heritage site Stupa, has already been crowned as India's first "Solar City" in September 2023.

Located on the Tropic of Cancer, Sanchi’s abundant sunlight makes it an ideal location for solar power generation throughout the year. Shimmering rooftop solar panels atop residential, office buildings and railway stations are facilitating this eco-friendly switch. About 7,000 citizens in Sanchi have also taken a pledge to save electricity by using solar stand lamps, solar study lamps, solar water heaters and solar lanterns in their homes. Installation of solar water kiosks in public places, sun-powered street lights and solar trees offering free Wi-Fi and mobile charging spaces are further amping  up the city’s green infrastructure.

Solar-powered Sanchi in Madhya Pradesh.

Overall, Sanchi’s switch to a net-zero city will reduce its annual carbon dioxide emissions by 13,747 tonnes, equivalent to over 2,38,000 trees while  saving Rs 7.68 crore on electricity bills annually. Solar power generation has created other spinoffs as well — economic opportunities for businesses and sustained employment generation for its youth.

What is a solar city?

Experts say they focus on the implementation of renewable energy projects to mitigate their fossil fuel consumption and meet its populace’s exponentially rising electricity demand. For this, renewable energy systems/devices such as solar PV systems, kitchen waste based plants, solar water heating systems, solar cooking systems, among others, are pressed into service. In addition, solar cities also leverage all types of renewable energies like wind, biomass, small hydro and waste along with possible energy efficiency measures to generate power.

During its G20 presidency, India unveiled the “Roadmap of Solar Energy for Uni­ve­­r­sal Energy Access”, emphasising  solar energy’s vital role in achieving widespread electricity access and delivering socio-economic benefits. The 2023-24 Union Budget further reaffirmed this commitment by increasing allocations for green infrastructure.

The Indian government has set ambitious targets for 2030, aiming for 500 GW of non-fossil-fuel-based capacity, including 280 GW of solar and 140 GW of wind.  The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy under its scheme “Development of Solar Cities” has approved/sanctioned 60 cities, including 13 Pilot and 5 Model Cities up to the 12th Five-year Plan period.  These include:

Amritsar

Punjab’s cultural capital is being developed as a ‘Solar City’  with a cumulative rooftop solar capacity of 2.33 MW starting with government buildings. For this, solar panels are being installed on 74 buildings to solarise office buildings and decarbonize the power sector. This will help whittle down  power consumption charges by 25-30 per cent while fast-tracking the promotion of energy efficiency in industries like building, industry, municipalities, agriculture, and transport. The state’s energy action plan will also help the state departments seamlessly implement long-term, inter-sectoral, and sustainable renewable energy strategies.

Thiruvananthapuram

The Kerala government’s ambitious project entails turning its capital city into one of India’s largest solar cities. This will be achieved by turning every rooftop in the city into a solar producing station. With solar panel installations already underway in over 600 government buildings, much of their power requirements are already being met from renewable energy sources. Over three lakh buildings suitable for solar panel installation have also been identified through the creation of India’s first solar atlas.

Modhera

Interestingly, Thiruvananthapuram’s solar project is modelled on India’s first fully solar-powered village Modhera in Gujarat.  Located 100 km from the state capital Gandhinagar, the village is known for its iconic Sun Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Most of Modhera now boasts of solar and rooftop panels that provide more kilowatts of energy than the village’s residents use each day. This not only reduces the villagers’ electricity bills, but also helps them earn a steady income as any surplus power generated can be sold back to the electric grid.

Indore

In the first phase of transforming Indore into a solar city this year, the local civic body will offer subsidies to the residents for installation of solar panels. These panels will also be hoisted on government buildings to turbo charge  their current generation capacity from 40 MW to 300 MW per year. among its population, currently, nearly 5,000 people in and around the city are using rooftop solar systems to meet their power needs.

Panaji

The Goa government is planning to make Panaji a 100 per cent solar-powered city’ in the next two years by installing solar rooftop systems and creating consumer awareness. For this, 81 housing complexes are being considered for the installation which will help the state reduce its fossil fuel dependency.

Panaji has been divided into various zones, and buildings in each zone have been categorized as residential, commercial, industrial, or government.  The city is also focusing on transitioning all passenger transport to 100 per cent electric vehicles, implement energy-efficiency measures, and establish off-grid EV charging stations with a total capacity of 34.5MW.

Jammu

Jammu & Kashmir is on a mission to become one of the largest clean energy-producing regions in the country. To minimise its dependency on conventional sources of energy, Jammu’s Rooftop Solar Scheme aims to install rooftop solar systems in 50,000 residential buildings to begin with by expanding its capacity from 5 MW to 200 MW by this year-end.