Bhagalpur and Gaya cities of Bihar will be developed into solar powered cities. They have been selected under the solar city scheme of the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).
In India, 60 cities are proposed to be developed under the ambitious scheme, in such a manner, that a major part of their daily energy needs are met by solar power combined with other forms of renewable energy.
Bihar Renewable Energy Development Agency (BREDA) Director, Manish Kumar told a newspaper that the State has sent proposals for Bhagalpur and Gaya and the MNRE approved them. Both cities will emerge as solar cities at the national level.
The scheme aims at bringing down the dependency on conventional energy systems by enabling urban local governments to address energy challenges at the city-level, said Manish Kumar.
In the country, several towns and cities are experiencing rapid growth in peak energy demand and they are finding it difficult to cope with it. The intention is to cut the projected conventional energy demand by 10 per cent at the end of five years, added Kumar.
For the scheme, BREDA is the nodal agency in Bihar, while a solar city cell would be created in the chosen cities to implement it.