Urban Update Feb 2017

ISSN 2349-6266 RNI No DELENG/2014/57384

Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

UrbanUpdate Volume III, Issue X

FebrUARY 2017

Rs 100

Let

there be

light

Can India ensure ‘24x7 power for all’ by 2022 without increasing its emission? Yes, India can.

Renewable energy is the panacea!

Gujarat welcomes healthy competition among states: Rupani

The project is funded by the European Union.

The project is implemented by the AIILSG.

Union Ministry of Urban Development has empanelled AIILSG on the list of consultants qualified to work for Smart City Mission.

AIILSG has been selected to work for Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, Chandigarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh.

Community Based Interventions

Professional Empowerment Project Management

Advisory Services Customised Training

Knowledge Management Capacity Building Information, Education and Communication (IEC)

Policy Research

All India Institute of Local Self-Government No. 6, F-Block, Bandra Kurla Complex, TPS Road-12, Bandra-East, Mumbai-400051, Maharashtra Tel.No.: +91-22-26571713, 26571714, 26571715, Fax: +91-22-26572286, Email: contact@aiilsg.org

UrbanUpdate A monthly magazine published by the AIILSG — a project funded by European Union’s ‘Equi-City’ programme for India.

Ranjit Chavan President-AIILSG Ashish Deosthali Editor-In-Chief Director General-AIILSG Ashok Wankhade Managing Editor Abhishek Pandey Editor Ravi Ranjan Guru Executive Editor

Mail Box Readers’ comments, criticism and suggestions are welcome. Letters to the Editor can be sent by e-mail, or regular mail. They should include name, address, phone number(s), and e-mail address, if available. The subject of the communication should be clearly mentioned, and we reserve the right to edit for sense, style, and space.

Address Urban Update (All India Institute of Local Self-Government) Sardar Patel Bhavan, 22-23, Institutional Area, D Block Pankha Road, Janakpuri, Delhi-110058 or E-mail at urbanupdate@outlook.com FOR SUBSCRIPTION AND ADVERTISING RELATED ASSISTANCE, CONTACT Phone: 011 - 2852 1783/ 5473 (Extn. 37) E-mail: contacturbanupdate@gmail.com

Kumar Dhananjay Consulting Editor Arzoo Arora Editorial Assistant Meenakshi Rajput Graphic Designer Volume III - Issue X Printed and published by Ranjit Chavan on behalf of All India Institute of Local Self-Government.

Printed at Artz & Printz, 208, DSIDC Shed, Okhla Industrial Area Phase-I, New Delhi-110020 Published at Sardar Patel Bhavan, 22-23, Institutional Area D-Block Pankha Road, Janakpuri, Delhi-110058 Despite careful selection of sources, no responsibility can be taken for accuracy of the contents. The magazine assumes no liability or responsibility of any kind in connection with the information thereof. The views expressed in the articles are the personal opinions of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the All India Institute of Local Self-Government.

All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part is strictly prohibited without written permission from the publisher.

Join Urban Update Community Online to read our previous issues, regular posts and news updates.

WWW

urbanupdate.in urbanupdatemag urbanupdatemgzn urbanupdatemag

The project is funded by the European Union.

The project is implemented by the AIILSG.

The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission.

4

February 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

EDITORIAL

Towards a powerful future

P

ower is one of the elements of physical infrastructure which is most crucial for economic progress and prosperity. In India, it plays a central role in achieving human development and poverty alleviation.

India has made good progress with total installed capacity growing many fold since independence to over 300 Gigawatts of grid connected capacity in 2016. This improved availability of power has fueled industrial growth, agricultural output and the service sector boom. India has achieved over 99 per cent electrification with 591,685 villages electrified. However at the household level, as per the National Family Health Survey for 2015-16, some states including Bihar and Assam lag behind substantially.

Even in those areas which are electrified, there could be issues of access due to unreliable supply, poor maintenance or even affordability.

In India, the power sector-generation, transmission and distribution have all been largely in the public sector, state or central. With such a crucial role in the development of the country, the power sector and its entities have often been used to meet populist, political ends, sacrificing in the process efficiency, transparency and accountability. This has led to various kinds of distortions including free supply, artificially underpriced supply and distribution losses-a euphemism for power theft. This in turn has had an adverse impact on finances of power generation, transmission and distribution entities.

Therefore power sector reforms became an essential part of the narrative on economic reforms during the past couple of decades. Primarily many states have trifurcated the state electricity boards into separate generation, transmission and distribution entities, thereby ring-fencing the revenues and losses in the different businesses. Yet a lot remains to be done. The new government’s UDAY scheme aims to improve operational efficiency of discoms, reducing their interest costs and enforcing

financial discipline by aligning them with state finances. Open access, another reform initiative is a subject which has divergent views of different stakeholders but the concept is fundamentally sound and needs effort to build consensus.

Renewable energy is of great importance and in fact crucial to the very survival of mankind and this planet. Diminishing finite reserves of fossil fuels and overload of GHG emissions are forcing policy makers to give a big thrust to development of renewables.

In India’s power basket, coal has a very large share at 61 per cent of total installed capacity and is clearly unsustainable. Due to extremely dangerous air pollution levels, thermal power plants near cities (Delhi for example) had to be shut down even if temporarily. Waste to Energy is equally crucial in meeting the twin objectives of municipal waste management which has reached humongous proportions, and the need to increase renewable energy generation. We found that this area has met with little success. The efforts too, have been more sporadic and random rather than focused, robust and sustained.

In this issue of Urban Update we bring you viewpoints and an assessment of the energy scenario by various experts, as also some suggestions for the future. In the cover story, we have covered various aspects of the government policy for this important sector and its plans for a bright and Ujwal India. We look forward to some more policy initiatives in the upcoming Budget for 2017-18. We spoke to the chief minister of Gujarat during the recent Vibrant Gujarat Summit for his views on how the last few editions of the Summit have worked for the State. We bring you excerpts.

We hope you will find this issue engaging and a useful contribution towards building more efficient and sustainable cities.

To boost industrial growth, agricultural output and service sector without affecting environment, India needs to strengthen its power generation capacity through renewable energy sources

Ashish Deosthali Editor-In-Chief dg@aiilsg.org

www.urbanupdate.in | February 2017

5

Quotes

PIN POINT BUZZ

It is time to leverage the Paris Agreement and to increase ambition for clean energy in the coming years. Long term plans and strategies from all stakeholders are essential for transitioning to the economy of the future – one powered by clean, renewable sources.

Manuel Pulgar Vidal Leader, Global Climate & Energy Practice World Wildlife Fund (WWF)

Well-located housing can cut down on driving & hence the need for more road space even if people are still tethered to their cars. This will reduce congestion and make roads more accessible. Hence, innovative urbanism needs to be elevated to the top during city planning.

Brent Troderian City planner and Urbanist

Piyush Goyal @Piyush Goyal Minister of New & Renewable Energy, Government of India

Solar Power Has Become 70% Cheaper Due to Transparent Bidding By Government of India.

Ada Colau @Ada Colau Mayor of Barcelona

Cities are the main actors in the challenges of sustainability.

Suresh Prabhu @Suresh Prabhu Minister for Railways, Government of India

As on December 31, 2016, Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) had already facilitated an overwhelming 4.48 billion sq ft of green spaces in the country, thereby enabling India to become the second largest registered green footprint country in the world. Green Building stands to become the next housing alternative.

Developing 2,000 km of roads in coastal areas will facilitate better connectivity with ports and remote villages. The roads will be developed - inspired by the ocean highways in the United States - along the 7500 km. Apart from boosting infrastructure, there is ample scope to continue and take up works worth Rs 1.5 lakh crore.

Prem C Jain Chairman Indian Green Building Council

Nitin Gadkari Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping Government Of India

6

February 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

All coaches of Indian Railways will be fitted with bio-toilets by 2019 to ensure cleaner tracks and safe waste disposal management.

Sunita Narain @sunitanar Director, Centre for Science and Environment

Leaving Delhi should not be the question. How to win this battle against deadly air pollution should be.

Volume 3, Issue 10

ONE ON ONE

24

“Gujarat welcomes healthy competition among states”

Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani speaks to Urban Update on the significance of Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit and development imperatives for improved future for the citizens

“We try to engage stakeholders in city planning”

N Manjushree, CEO, Bengaluru Urban Zilla Panchayat, speaks to Urban Update, on tackling solid waste problem, reviving water bodies and other problems of Bengaluru

42

Inside February 2017

article

34

Towards 100% renewable energy

A 2011 study by Stanford University Professor Mark Jacobson and Mark Delucchi stated that it was entirely possible to move to 100% renewable energy supply globally. They are convinced that it is feasible to generate all new energy with renewables by 2030

Tap the potential of waste-its urgent now!

The idea of generating energy from waste provides two pronged solution of tackling waste and generating energy

Wind gives wings to sustainable energy

Technological advancements in the domain of Wind Energy makes India’s journey to attain 175 GW power generation target through renewable energy a cake walk

36

40

RegularS

6 10 15 44

Pin Point Event City Images Book Review

8 14 30 46

Equi-City Newscan Numerographs Urban Agenda

40 cover story

26

Let there be light Can India ensure ‘24x7 power for all’ by 2022 without increasing its emission? Yes, India can. The government has decided to invest hugely in renewable energy to meet its growing power demands in the wake of fast-paced urbanisation and economic development.

The new policy decisions in the sector have to balance feasibility, affordability and environmental sustainability

LEADerspeak

30

Sun to shine on India Growing power needs and sustainability concerns have impelled India to resort to clean energy alternatives. In last couple of years, the nation has added significant power generation capacity through solar energy. It still offers immense potential to realize nation’s goal to generate 175GW from renewable sources and provide power to all at affordable tariff

www.urbanupdate.in | Februay 2017

7

feature | Equi-City

Growing momentum towards a new mandate Nagpur strives to set an example for other Indian cities in ensuring equitable delivery of urban services to all citizens. Public participation for improving basic civic amenities is the key component of the Equi-city project Team Equi-City

N

agpur, the Orange city of India is been experiencing the wave of sensitization towards gaining adequate basic services since a year. Several sensitizing events have taken place throughout the year to scale up the aim of providing equitable municipal services to urban poor.

Nagpur, the first city to take up this pilot project, an initiative of Nagpur Municipal Corporation enters into the second phase of the development. This project is one among the most desired and prestigious projects in India today having its focus on Equal delivery of Municipal services in the city. The 217 square kilometer expanse administered

by NMC can now look forward to the centre’s intervention towards Equality

and Diversity.

The Equi-city project which is funded by European Union aims at promoting equitable delivery of Municipal services and encouraging diversity in local authorities by enabling participation by different communities or groups in the formation of social and economic policies in local governance systems. The project focused on improving the quality of life of the urban poor and other marginal communities like women, children and differently-abled persons by ensuring that all the basic amenities such as water, electricity, sanitation and sewerage management are accessible to all citizens without discrimination.Its main activities include: ♦♦ Formation of participatory forums, where stakeholders and

local authorities can engage in collaborative solutions and coordinated action for equitable delivery of municipal services. ♦♦ Building technical capacity of officials in local authorities to equip them to be leaders and be responsive to urgent priorities. ♦♦ Sensitizing local authority officials towards implementation of diversity and equality frameworks in organization managed by local authorities. ♦♦ Development of tools which could help monitor and evaluate municipal service delivery. ♦♦ Heightening awareness of officials, citizens and poor urban dwellers on various initiatives and issues to promote accountability and transparency in operations while providing incentives for action.

It has been almost a year since the start of the project, and it has accomplishedtargeted outcomes. In the past year, the project was launched on 18th February, 2016 followed by meetings with officials of NMC, Nagpur and AIILSG, various sensitization workshops, drawing/painting competition, European Union visit, Diversity and Equality survey of NMC, and other citizenengagement programmes. All these events collectively created an impact of the project on poor urban dwellers.

Aspire to lead: Equi-City’s series on sensitisation Equi-City team members and local officials speaking on public health and sanitation issues to spread awareness among public

8

February 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

The purpose of conducting Sensitization workshops is to generate awareness regarding sanitation and hygiene, sensitize people and improve existing conditions of municipal

services provided by Nagpur Municipal Corporation. These workshops clearly bring out the fact that the people of the slums are concerned about the problems of their habitat, the lack of awareness and participation of the people towards issues of sanitation especially regarding sewerage and solid waste management. These problems not only lead to the degradation of the locality but also the facilities (street, water connection and sewer lines) which are already being provided

by Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC). During the workshops, interactive sessions and surveys were conducted. The collective outcomes of the workshops are as follows: ♦♦ Acknowledging the reality of delivery of municipal services such as water supply, sewerage and sanitation and solid waste management. ♦♦ Sensitizing slum dwellers and local authority officials of the gaps between the existence and hypothesis of availability of services, thus taking initiatives in informing about them to service providing authority. ♦♦ Citizens were made aware of the fact that unethical dumping of waste around railway lines and open defecation were polluting their surroundings and water bodies which is harming their health.

Hence the Sensitization Workshops reflect an effort by the Equi-city to not only provide a common platform for the urban poor and the NMC Officials, but also to ensure that a common ground is achieved towards the solving of existing problems. In addition to this, the workshops also provided the medium of visibility for the Project Equi-city at the local level.

The diversity and inclusion in the range of people within the organization for creating an environment where people feel involved, connected, respected, valued and able is important to bring their ideas, background and perspectives for a competent governing structure. This was the aim behind the diversity and equality survey, which resulted into preparation of Diversity Re-

Municipal officials being facilitated at the sensitization workshop

port. This Diversity Report is expected to be a mile stone in further achieving a comprehensive HR Policy in the NMC, which is practically non-existent at present. This Report is also expected to bring out the real world problems and inequalities which are faced by the employees with the organization (NMC).

The working towards the Diversity and Equality Status Report of Nagpur Municipal Corporation has reached its final stage.The classified indicators for the Diversity Status Report are: Gender, Age, Position/Designation, Qualification, Religion, Caste Category and Pay Scale. In addition, Diversity Survey has been successfully completed.

The preparation of Diversity and Equality Survey Report is under progress. Thus both these analyses will further help to understand the problems (if any) which exist in the NMC as an organisation.

Further, in the past year around 80 members were recognized who will be invited for the launch of City Development Forum.

A look at the key initiatives of Equi-City for next 3 years To align with the objectives of the Equi-city Project in the upcoming year, capacity building and research

activities will be dominating others.

For the enactment of this, different participatory forums will be formed.

The initiation of this activity has already being done with the formation of Equicity Cell but further in coming years, it is expected that an Intercity Forum will also be formed with the help of local authorities and stakeholders for collaborative solutions. This unique collaboration would provide a platform to help find solutions for pressing municipal problems for citizens, especially for poor urban dwellers.

The Intercity Forum (ICF) will be set up for disseminating best practices and co-ordination action between cities.

ICF will be an overall advisory forum to share the best practices and knowledge sharing and problem solving sounding board between and among the local authorities for diversity and efficiency in provision of civic services. It will support the CDF in its efforts. The Annual ICF participatory forum will help stakeholders inform, educate and sensitize wider set of stakeholders on diversity and delivery of municipal services.

Various missions and programmes would be conducted in accordance with the project so as to keep the city and citizens well aware about the activities and visions of Equi-City.

www.urbanupdate.in | February 2017

9

Event | Vibrant Gujrat Global Summit

Vibrant Gujrat 2017 Summit-Bigger & Better!

Stepping away from the previous editions of the Summit, VGGS 2017 saw focus on knowledge sharing and action-based brainstorming. The summit provided a platform not just to attract investments but also to exchange ideas on a range of sectors including defence, infrastructure, smart cities, plastic technology, etc.

Kumar Dhananjay | Consulting Editor

Gandhinagar: Vibrant Gujarat 2017 was the first one of the new dispensation under the leadership of Vijay Rupani and he obviously wanted it to be bigger and better than previous editions. Brand Modi was key to success of the program and it was evident at the summit venue that he is still key to this biennial event, with his huge cutouts displayed not only at the summit venue but across Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad. Though he himself was present in the inaugural ceremony, somehow this year’s summit looked like a pale shadow of its former self as big ticket investment promises were missing.

Brand Modi

But still, the enthusiasm among dignitaries, delegates and participants was palpable as they waited to hear Modi’s speech for more than two and half hours in the packed convention hall of Mahatma Mandir. Modi in his speech did try to sell the brand India and its growth story. He said “Despite the global slowdown, we have registered

10

February 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

excellent growth. India is a bright spot in the global economy. The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and other institutions have projected even better growth in the coming days”.

Listing out India’s global rankings on various indicators, Modi said, “Creating an enabling environment for business, and attracting investments, is my top priority.” Several chief executive officers attending the summit praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “dynamic and visionary leadership” over the past two and a half years. Modi was called a transformational leader by many, including Executive Chairman of Cisco John Chambers and Chief Executive Officer of Fairfax Canada Prem Watsa.

Calling Modi the Lee Kuan Yew of India, Watsa said the Prime Minister can transform the country.

No big announcements

Interestingly three big Indian business leaders who addressed the inaugural were, Ratan Tata, Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani. All three of them praised Modi and Gujarat as a favorite

destination for investment. But only Adani promised to invest 49,000 crores over the next five years. Ambani and Ratan Tata made no fresh promises to invest in the state. Ambani said that his group invested ten thousand crore more than what it promised but made no announcement of further investment. Ratan Tata who was the first to speak reminisced what he had said few years ago that ‘if you are not in Gujrat, you are stupid’. He also played to the gallery ending his speech to a round of applause by saying “Ameybhi Gujarati chhu; Aneaapnepaachha Gujarat ma aavyachhe (I am a Gujarati too; I have now come back to Gujarat).”

It was surprising that no big investment announcement was made during the inaugural. Was that deliberate? In the past there has been a criticism that announcements and MoUs signed during the summit do not realise in its entirety. But business houses have their own explanation for that. Piruz Khambatta, chairman and managing director of Rasna Pvt Ltd, justified the stance of not speaking

about investments. “Once investment commitments are announced, it actually becomes a tool in the hands of the opposition and the critics to say that only a fraction of the investments comes in. This is probably why Mukesh Ambani spoke about the actual investments he has made in the state.

So, this is a strategic decision.”

GST: the game changer?

Vibrant Gujarat Summit had a special session on GST on the second day of the summit where finance minister Arun Jaitley was the main speaker. The Summit took place two months after the government’s decision to abolish 500 and 1,000-rupee notes. The move, meant to root out corruption and stop terror financing, has also generated a slowdown in certain sectors.

Arun Jaitley not only talked about demonetization and black money but also harped on how GST is going to help the investors.

Jaitley began his address by stating that Vibrant Gujarat Summit has become the foremost economic conclave of India. He further added that with each summit the vibrancy of this conference has increased. “India needs bold decisions, time now to clean up table. Difficult decisions initially pass through difficult phases”. Regarding GST he briefed the audience saying, “Most of the issues have been resolved, few critical issues are left which I hope will be resolved in the next few weeks. Once GST is implemented, a combination of a more digitised economy with a more efficient tax system will make India better.” FM also

said that Indian economy has opened up significantly, sector after sector and that GST will make India’s economy much cleaner and bigger.

Jaitley’s words enthused the gathering and industry lapped up every word and applauded it. The seminar was also addressed by Dr Naushad Forbes, President of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). He said GST is truly transformative in the way the Indian industry will operate. He said GST will expand India’s tax base and thus reduce tax burden on those who are paying tax. Mentioning more benefits of GST, Forbes said with GST, decisions like where to set up a factory will be based on economy - not tax arbitrage. He also added that GST will boost our global competitiveness and mark India as the world’s preferred investment destination. He mentioned in his address that GST will create a single market in the country and boost economic transparency. But not everyone even in the government was so optimistic. There are multiple challenges ahead and the government has to remain sensitive to them.

Speaking on the occasion, chairperson of the Central board of Direct taxes Sushil Chandra said that “we are coming close to finalize the law and procedures but there are serious concerns how these will be implemented in the days to come”.

The Crux of the Summit

State government claims 66% success ratio for past seven Vibrant Gujarat summits. Despite all the big bang announcements regarding policy deci-

sion being taken by the central government, critics have questioned the success of such events in terms of actual realization of the intents. Even if we go by the figure provided by the state government only sixty six percent has been realized, prior to the eighth editionof the summit. 51,738 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) or investment intentions were signed in the last seven years. J N Singh, chief secretary, Government of Gujarat said “so far 51,738 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) or investment intentions have been signed, from first edition in 2003 to the latest seventh edition in 2015.

Of these, about 34,234 projects have either been completed or are under implementation, putting the success ratio of the investment MoUs at about 66 per cent,” said Singh talking to the media.

The eighth edition of Vibrant Gujrat summit was claimed to be the biggest of all summits and will exceed any other event happening elsewhere in the country and will not be impacted by demonetization on the long term investments plans made by Investment promises, the hallmark of Vibrant Gujarat summits, rained heavily on the second day of the coveted business meet at Mahatma Mandir as Indian corporates, multinationals, educational institutions and state-run enterprises pledged over Rs 20 lakh crore. The amount is likely to cross Rs 30 lakh crore mark. Even as we are the final figure from the state government on the investments assured by Indian and foreign firms, it is unlikely that the summit actually managed to get the expected results.

www.urbanupdate.in | February 2017

11

Event | Vibrant Gujrat Global Summit

Vibrant Gujarat: Smart and Livable Cities

India to build 500 more smart cities: Naidu Cities with population over one lakh to be selected under Smart Cities Mission in future

Team UrbanUpdate

Gandhinagar: The Minister for Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Information & Broadcasting Venkaiah Naidu says urban renaissance is taking place in India now as the country is on move now towards unprecedented development. He was addressing a conference on Smart and Livable Cities at the Vibrant Gujarat Summit in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

Khoo Teng Chye, Chief Executive, Center for Livable Cities, Singapore, delivered the key note address. Chye said that urban regeneration can be a powerful social and economic driver to catalyse change, strengthen the urban fabric, inject vibrancy and improve the quality of life for its citizens. An action seminar ‘Smart and Livable Cities: Opportunities and Challenges’ was also organised in which speakers and audience participated to discuss feasible solutions to address urbanization challenges.

Speaking on India’s progress in urban development sector, Naidu said, even while government focuses on

12

February 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

urban development, as about 65% of GDP comes from cities being engines of growth, it wants to benefit poor in the process. In the initial stage government identified 100 cities.

Developmental work in sixty of them is going on at a fast pace now. Naidu said his government in future would also like to select 500 more cities with populations over one lakh people under smart city programme. He said for such a programme to continue without any hindrances, the government had adopted the system of having the SPV system, for which an allocation of Rs 500 crores was made. The idea is to provide people in every city with better facilities- including clean water, power and better traffic management among others.

The minister said that work on the first phase of Metro rail project in Ahmedabad, which would be of about 32kms, is in full swing with an investment of about 11,000 cr rupees.

It is expected to be completed by 2018.

Presently in 31 cities with over 20 lakh population, the metro rail projects are being implemented and cities with over 10 lakh population will be taken up later. He said the focus is on Infrastructure development now with an aim to transform urban landscape with introduction of metro rail, BRTs and separate Cycling tracks, etc. He said, Narendra Modi also intends to bring in a behavioral change among people and adopt a path of inclusive growth through various policies like Make in India, Digital India and Clean India, among others. The announcements by Narendra Modi on interest rebates for housing loans and recent lowering of interest rates by banks are expected to lead to everyone owning a house by 2022. Jagan Shah,

Director of National Institute of Urban Affairs said that NIUA with Ministry of Urban Development has developed an online forum Smart Net through which they are seeking suggestions on urban transformation of India from the stakeholders.

Affordable Housing

Dinesh Mehta, Professor Emeritus, CEPT University (Ahmedabad), Low Cher Ek, Deputy CEO, SurbangJurong Consultants (Singapore), SriramKalyanaraman, MD & CEO, National Housing Board (New Delhi), and Nandita Chatterjee, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, were part of the panel in the session on Affordable Housing. They shared their experiences in planning and executing affordable housing policies.

Nandita Chatterjee, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, presented the Indian government’s plan to introduce affordable housing scheme in Smart Cities. Chatterjee said that the Central Government is facilitating ‘Housing for all’ by providing financial assistance to state governments and cities making suitable policy changes required at the Central-level and also advocating policy changes required at state and city government-level.

Talking about slum rehabilitation, she said that the ministry is considering using land as a resource for in-situ rehabilitation of existing slums so that slum dwellers don’t move out to faraway places because of established livelihood linkages. Prof Mehta said that Gujarat had one of the best land pooling policies and underlined that other states can follow Gujarat model for swift and effective execution of Affordable Housing Scheme.

Subscribe to

UrbanUpdate

For 3 Years (36 Issues) Rs 2520 For 2 Years (24 Issues) Rs 1920

A magazine dedicated to Urban Infrastructure, Governance & Sustainability

For 1 Year (12 Issues) Rs 1080

Yes, I want to subscribe to Urban Update Tick

Year 1 2 3

Cover price Issue/Year Cover price/Annum You pay Discount 1080 1200 12 10% 1920 2400 24 20% 100 2520 3600 36 30%

Please fill this form in Capital Letters Name Organisation Designation Address

Mobile

City E-mail

Pin Code

Cheque/DD/MO No For Rupees

Drawn on Dated

State

(specify bank)

In favour of ‘All India Institute of Local Self-Government’ is enclosed.

Mail this form along with your Cheque/DD to the following address All India Institute of Local Self-Government Sardar Patel Bhavan, 22-23, Institutional Area, D Block, Pankha Road, Janakpuri, Delhi-110058 You can pay Subscription charges through National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT). Details for NEFT transfer are: Axis Bank Limited Please e-mail your details (Name, Address, duration of subscripA/C Name: All India Institute of Local Self-Government tion, transaction no.) to contacturbanupdate@gmail.com for initiating A/C No: 207010100182768 subscription after the NEFT transfer.

IFSC: UTIB0000207 For any query, please contact our Subscription Department Phone No.: 011-2852 1783 / 5473 (Extn. 37) Or e-mail at contacturbanupdate@gmail.com

Terms and Conditions • Payments for mailed subscriptions are accepted only via cheque or demand draft • Cash payments may be made in person • Allow one week for processing of your subscription • You will receive your copy of URBAN UPDATE by post/ courier • All disputes shall be subject to Delhi jurisdiction only

BRIEFS

Chandigarh plans electric buses To curb the problem of vehicular pollution, the UT administration has initiated the process to introduce electric buses in the city. After presenting the idea of electric buses before senior officials, company also gave a presentation on CNG buses.

Under the flagship scheme FAME India (faster adoption and manufacturing of hybrid and electric vehicles in India) the center will fund up to 75 per cent of the cost for introducing zeroemission retrofitted electric buses. Initially, the project will be started on a pilot bases on a couple of routes with eight to 10 buses. Electric buses are already running successfully in several countries and trials are going on in some Indian cities including Delhi, Bengaluru and Pune.

Surat first in Gujarat to invest in waste converters In an attempt to help reduce garbage collection and disposal load, Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) is first in the state to install organic waste converters (OWCs) at the vegetable markets namely Singanpore, Bhagal and Dindoli located in three municipal zones.

Each of the OWC is capable to convert 250 kilogram of organic waste generated from vegetable markets, hostels and canteens into compost per day.In all, the civic body has purchased 10 OWCs, out of which five OWCs have the capacity of 100 kilogram per day, while the rest five 250 kilogram per day. Official sources said that the diamond city generates 1,600 tonnes of solid waste per day and that around 30 per cent or 450 tonnes comprises of the organic waste generated from the vegetable markets, hotels, restaurants, canteens and other food joints.

14

February 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

NEWSCAN

Announce names of garbage litterers

Indore: To make the city garbage free Indore’s Mayor Malini Gaud instructed the officials to take strict action against those found littering. A lot of complaints had come up against pushcart vendors who threw garbage on the roads. The door to door garbage collection vans would now not only play the ‘Iradakarliya..’ song, but would also announce the names of people caught spilling garbage in the open. Mayor Malini Gaud instructed the officials to keep a check on those who throw garbage on streets. “The names of such people should be made public through announcements to shame them,”

the mayor said.

Gaud said that the list of such people would also be released to the press.

The initiative of the mayor comes after she became a part of the ‘dabba gang’, which makes noise upon seeing someone defecating in open or coming out of their homes with water tumblers in the mornings.

The mayor also instructed the officials to ensure that they collect cleanliness charges from people who take out processions in the city.

“They take out processions in the city and spill dirt on roads, the workers of the civic body then have to clean it.

Permissions for such processions should be given only if a cleanliness charge is paid by them,” the mayor said.

Indore Municipal Corporation has been coming up with innovative initiatives to spread cleanliness related awareness. The mayor has urged the residents to help them achieve a good rank in the cleanliness survey that would be conducted by the central government later this month.

Smart garbage bins for smart cities Vijayawada: The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) has taken a step to make garbage management eco-friendly. VMC has started a pilot project of smart garbage bins also called the underground waste management system. Smart garbage bins system worth Rs 9.5 lakh includes three deep collection bins, sensors, GPS and an SMS alert system.

‘Smart garbage bins’ will sound an alert when they become full. The system has been installed near the Andhra Loyola College and is ready for use. Superintending Engineer P. Adiseshu, an officer related to the project, said, “After observing the functioning of the system for at least a month, more will be set up. We are planning to replace about 200 old garbage bins with the new system.” Each system consists of three colour coded bins and can together hold garbage weighing 4.5 tonnes. While each bin is 10 feet deep, 60 per cent is placed below the ground level with propylene durable bags inside so that the garbage is emptied easily.

Each bin is fitted with an ultrasonic sensor which sends alerts to the desired receiver like specially designed trucks and the control centre when the bin gets 90 per cent full. As the bins are also fitted with GPS location, they can be identified at the control centre. The specially designed trucks will be able to lift the propylene bags and empty them. About 60 trucks are already fitted with GPS for efficient management. The civic authority has plans to replace around 200 old dustbins with the new systems if the pilot runs successfully. The project is implemented by EcoGrab, a Chennai-based firm, the official representative of the green world group in India.

CITY IMAGES

Seoul to open ‘skygarden’ soon

The Seoul Metropolitan Government will plant about 24,085 trees in the new elevated park next to Seoul Station.

It will come up on a historically significant elevated road as government has decided to turn into a park instead of tearing it down. The project is one of the biggest urban regenration programs and expected to boost the local economy by

attracting more tourists. Dubbed “Seoul-lo 7017” (the overpass was built in 1970, the park is slated to be opened in April 2017), one km path meandering through the park will be lined with the trees placed in alphabetical order according to their genus. The city is spending over 500,000 USD on the plants, and collecting them from around the nation.

www.urbanupdate.in | February 2017

15

BRIEFS

NDMC to build eightstoreyed car parking Facing the crisis of shrinking parking space and growing number of vehicles, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) will construct an eightstoreyed parking facility having the capacity to accommodate 900 cars. Deputy Chairman of the NDMC standing committee Rajesh Bhatia said, “The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) will provide funds for multilevel parking near Karol Bagh Metro station while NDMC will provide land for it”. He also said, “It would be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 92.34 crore over an area of 4261 sqmetres. The process for approval of drawing of the multilevel parking is underway.

Construction work is expected to start later this year.”

Meghalaya’s Rainwater Harvesting Scheme Receives Award The Central Board of Irrigation & Power has conferred the CBIP Award 2017 to Meghalaya for Best Implementation of Water Resources Project— ‘Jal Kunds’.

The Award was given by Uma Bharati, Minister of Water Resources. The Jal Kund scheme has helped in livelihood and income generation, recharge of groundwater and springs and creation of awareness on the importance of water harvesting and conservation at the village and urban level also.

Though Meghalaya receives adequate rain, it faces a challenge in other seasons. The scheme is one of the initiatives under the Integrated Basin Development and Livelihood Promotion Programme (IBDLP) implemented through communities with support from the Water Resources and the Soil and Water Conservation departments.

16

February 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

NEWSCAN

Bengaluru to Chennai in 30 minutes!

New-Delhi: One (HO), a Los Angeles company has approached the Union Ministry of road transport with a letter of intent to construct the fastest means of public transport that will cover the 345 km distance from Bengaluru to Chennai in 30 minutes.

Hyperloop is a mode of transportation that can propel a pod-like vehicle having passenger/cargo on board through a near-vacuum tube at an average speed of 1,000-1200 km/h. Other routes include Chennai-Mumbai, BengaluruTrivandrum and Mumbai-Delhi.

The first line in the world is expected to come up between Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the next five years. It will cut down travel time from 90 minutes to 12 minutes. HO says it is planning to install prefabricated tubes atop pillars, a move aimed to cut down cost and time of construction. Solar panels on top of the tubes and windmills on the pillars to tap energy will further reduce operational cost. The pod uses the magnetic system to move. It needs energy only when it begins the journey and can glide for more than 200 miles once it touches top speed.

HO also claims that system is designed to be entirely autonomous, quiet and on-demand (departures every 10–20 seconds) and, as it is built on columns or tunnelled underground, eliminates the dangers of at-grade crossings. However, there are challenges that HO must

♦♦ The first line in the world is expected to come up between Dubai & Abu Dhabi ♦♦ Hyperloop pods need energy only when it begins the journey and can glide for more than 200 miles ♦♦ Hyperloop One says it can get one km of the line done within Rs 72 crore

overcome. Given that the Indian cities such as Chennai, with its coastal plains, and Bengaluru, on the Deccan Plateau, have diverse geographies, building tubes in one straight line will not be easy.

Though HO says it can get 1 km of the line done within Rs 72 crore instead of hypothesised Rs 300 Crore, maintaining low cost and profitability will be a roadblock. Nick Earle, manager of global field operations, says, “Feedback from governments will determine if Hyperloop will be considered for a region. The ‘Hyperloop One Global Challenge’, that’ll have its first showcase consisting of 35 finalist teams in New Delhi on February 28 will be a step towards assessing government and public opinion.”

NEWSCAN

India’s first 2G Ethanol Bio-refinery to come up in Bhatinda NEW DELHI: To promote renewable energy and boost agricultural revenue, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) has given the green signal for India’s first 2G or second-generation ethanol bio-refinery (EBR) to be setup in Bhatinda, Punjab at a cost of 600 Crore INR. As part of the Ethanol Blended Programme (EBP), Oil Marketing Companies’ (OMC’s) will have to sell ethanol blended petrol with percentage of ethanol upto 10 per cent.

About 1 lakh kg of Bio-CNG will cater to transport and clean cooking sector.

Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan has gotten central government approval that will allow procurement of ethanol produced from other non-food

feedstocks.

The refinery will utilise agricultural residue (AR) for production of 100 Kilolitre per day or 3.2 crore litres per annum of ethanol. HPCL estimates that around 30000 tonnes of bio-fertiliser will be produced. The Bhatinda refinery is first in a line of 12 2G EBR across 11 states that would produce an estimated 35-40 Crore of ethanol annually.

BRIEFS

ADB approves funds for sewer line in Kolkata Kolkata Municipal Corporation recently got a verbal approval from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to get a sanction Rs 1,700 crore loan. The loan was for taking up the third phase of sewer line laying work under the Kolkata Environment Improvement Project (KEIP) scheme. KMC and ADB officials called up a meeting to discuss on issues and to start off the third phase of work. Kolkata Mayor Sovan Chatterjee said that the ADB has expressed their satisfaction over the progress of work so far and has in principle given a verbal approval to sanction another Rs 1,700 crore for taking up third phase of work. “Sewer work along the arterial roads in ward number 122, 124, 126 and 127 are being done and now we will take up work of the sewer lines on the inner roads in different wards which are pending,” he said.

RMC invites public suggestions for budget

BMC launches toilet locater mobile app

RAJKOT: Rajkot Municipal Corporation has decided to invite suggestions from city people for the budget of the next financial year. “With a noble and progressive objective of making the budget of 2017-18 of Rajkot Municipal Corporation reflect expectations of people, ensuring comprehensive and balanced development of the city and to also strengthen financial condition of the civic body; municipal commissioner has invited suggestions from residents of Rajkot for the budget,” an official release from the RMC stated recently.

The municipal commissioner further said that RMC is a body of local selfgovernance and as such must echo voices of the public in its functioning. “Citizens may suggest to the RMC the types of public services the administration should provide and what are their expectations from the civic body. Public may also send in their suggestions with respect to taxation regime and financial planning so as to keep financial condition of the civic body comfortable and to augment it further, if possible,” the commissioner further said. City people may mail their suggestion at mc_rmc@yahoo.co.in or at prbtrmc@gmail.com. Civic officials said that no date for presentation of the budget to the standing committee of RMC has been fixed so far.

“Mumbai Toilet Locator” was launched by municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta.

People can now locate toilets in Mumbai by just using a mobile application introduced

by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). It is an android application and can be downloaded from Google Play store. The civic body has connected over 800 payand-use toilets across the city on “Mumbai Toilet Locator” through GPS and that more locations would be added in near future, said a senior official from the department of Solid Waste Management. However, an activist said the BMC should rather concentrate on cleaner and hygienic toilets.

www.urbanupdate.in | February 2017

17

BRIEFS

PCMC to use urban spaces efficiently Empty spaces under flyovers often become a den for criminal activities. To avoid such a scenario at the Empire Estate flyover in Chinchwad, the civic body plans to develop a traffic island, parking lots, a garden and a care centre for senior citizens. The initiative by Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) will benefit around 6,000 local residents. This will also reduce the traffic congestion on the Pune-Mumbai highway as vehicles parked on the highway will now have a spot to park under the flyover.

India’s first solar ferry in Kerala

India’s first solar ferry at Kottayam, Kerala was inaugurated by Piyush Goyal, the Minister of State with Independent Charge for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy and Mines. The 75-seater ferry, 20-m-long and 7 m-wide will be operated by Kerala State Water Transport Department (KSWTD). Built by NavAlt, an Ernakulam-based joint venture, in collaboration with a French company, the ferry will reduce the pollution of the Vembanad Lake caused by diesel-powered boats. The boat can run five to six hours on normal sunny days. It consists of a plug-in battery that can be charged by connecting to a normal electric circuit post use. KSWTD would launch further boats after the first model functions optimally.

18

February 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

NEWSCAN

Swachhata app for swachh Imphal

IMPHAL: Manipur Chief Minister OkramIbobi Singh launched a Citizen Complaint Redressal Mobile App called Swachhata App for Imphal city.

The Swachhata App is a complaint redressal mobile and web platform. It is an initiative of the Swachh Bharat Mission in association with the Ministry of Urban Development. The App enables

a citizen to post a civic-related issue (e.g. a garbage dump) which is then forwarded to the city corporation concerned and thereafter assigned to the sanitary inspector of the particular ward. The App works on any android/iOS smartphone.

Citizens can download the Swachhata App from Google play store or Apple App store. After registration, citizens can lodge complaints using the App by following few simple steps: Take a picture of the civic-related issue using a smart phone, and post it in one of the stated categories – 1) Garbage dump, 2) Garbage vehicle not arrived, 3) Dustbins not cleaned, 4) Sweeping not done, 5) Dead animals, 6) Public toilet cleaning, 7) Public toilet blockage, 8) No water supply in public toilet and 9) No electricity in public toilet.

The App will geotag the location while the picture is being taken. The user can just type in the landmark of the complaint location. The complaint will then be assigned to the concerned sanitary inspector/engineer.

IMC to remove overhead cables Indore: Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) has started a pilot project to construct underground ducts for cables and other lines in the city under Smart City Mission (SMC).. This would be first of a kind initiative in which roads would be made free from all overhead cables and electricity lines. Overhead cables and electric lines are often blamed for defacing the city’s aesthetics. When the ducts will be functional, the electric poles and transformers would be removed from roadsides. In the current system, the corporation has to dig up roads and identify the fault each time there’s a problem with an underground line. It also costs a huge amount of money. While preparing ducts is also a costly affair, officials claimed that in long run it would be cost effective. The IMC had received suggestions to create an underground passage for all cables and electric wires. However, officials said that they found the suggestions were not feasible for a city like Indore.

“We were not setting up a new city. In renovating an old city like Indore, there are certain restrictions. So we thought of creating ducts at regular intervals,” an official of IMC said. He said that the ducts would be like manholes that can be easily used for all sorts of maintenance. Officials of IMC said that widening of the roads is almost complete and the work of construction of underground ducts is in full swing.

“This is a pilot project. We have started the project in the areas, where most civic supply lines are in a dilapidated condition. It is a new technology. If we succeed, the project would be extended to the rest of the Smart City,” said Mayor Malini Gaud.

NEWSCAN

NGT issues notice to EDMC on poor sanitation New Delhi: National Green Tribunal (NGT) recently issued a notice to the Centre, Delhi government, East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) and the union of sanitation workers over strike due to salary delays. The NGT court has also summoned all the stakeholders and formed a committee to tackle solid waste in the city.

Sanitation workers of EDMC had gone for strike which lasted for 11 days and ended on January 16, 2017. The demands of the sanitation workers for strike included salaries that were pending for three months, along with arrears and the facility of cashless health insurance. “We frequently fall ill due to constant exposure to dirt. But don’t have cashless health insurance scheme despite repeated demands,” said one of workers. RV Untwal, a union leader, told Firstpost that the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) has assured to meet their demands and clear the dues by March.

“We had a meeting with Mohanjeet Singh, the commissioner of the EDMC. He has sought time till March to clear the arrears,” he said. After the corporation agreed clearing of dues by March, Swachchta Karmachari agreed to lift garbage in East Delhi areas.

Recently, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said that Rs 119 crores has been released for payment of salaries but the agitating workers pointed out that it is too small amount given to the liabilities of the corporation. Untwal also said that a few of the sanitation workers will continue with their demonstrations until all the demands are fulfilled. “It is up to the Delhi government to pay our dues,” he added.

CMC installs sanitary napkins vending machines CUTTACK: Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) has installed sanitary napkin vending machines in the city. It is first of its kind of initiative by any municipal corporation in the state which shows sensitivity toward the needs of women. In first phase, two such vending machines have been installed; one at Biswanath Pandit Central library and second one at the shelter home located inside SishuBhawan premises, the government run premier pediatric hospital. Along with the sanitary napkin vending machines, incinerators have also been installed, which will dispose of used napkins in a hygienic manner. CMC has spent at least Rs 1 lakh from its own coffers in installing the two sets of machines.

CMC officials said library and the shelter home attract hundreds of women visitors daily hence on a priority basis these two places were selected for installation of vending machines. Many girl students throng the CMC run library for reading while many women, whose children undergo treatment at Sishu Bhawan, stay at the shelter home. CMC officials said in view of the stigma and social taboo associated with sanitary napkins, majority of the adolescent girls and women hesitate to

♦♦ It is first of its kind of initiative by any municipal corporation in the state ♦♦ Majority of the adolescent girls and women hesitate to go to the shops to buy sanitary napkins ♦♦ Incinerators have also been installed to dispose of used napkins in a hygienic manner

go to the shops to buy sanitary napkins, which are often manned and crowded by men. Even proper disposal of sanitary napkin is a major issue as people often throw it in the open. “The vending machines and incinerators will be very helpful for women and it will also help us to improve sanitation situation in the city,” said deputy commissioner of CMC, Nirupama Swain.

www.urbanupdate.in | February 2017

19

BRIEFS

CPBC to have 10 more pollution monitoring stations As a part of the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) action plan to improve Delhi’s air quality, 10 more monitoring stations will be set up by next winter. The new stations will be located in areas such as Greater Kailash, Defence Colony, Vasant Kunj, Qutub Institutional Area, Okhla, Najafgarh, and Paschim Vihar, among others.

The air pollution data in the capital is currently taken from 28 monitoring stations – four run by Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), eight operated by the MeT department and the rest by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

Adidas makes shoes worth Rs 21000 out of ocean waste

German Sportswear Adidas has created shoes that are made from plastic bottles that people leave behind on beaches and ocean shores. 95% of the shoe’s upper part is taken from plastic waste consisting of PET bottles taken from the Maldives shore in the Indian Ocean. Named ‘Ultraboost Uncaged Parley Shoes’, Adidas created the footwear in a joint collaboration with Parley for the Oceans, an international think-tank working to address oceanic plastic waste. Dave Thomas, MD, Adidas Group India, comments, “In the first phase, 60 pairs will be available in India. Though the price of 21000 INR per pair is very high given the complexity of the manufacturing process, it would eventually come down.”

20 February 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

NEWSCAN

Government to fund up to 60% R&D cost for e-vehicles in India NEW DELHI: In an interesting collaboration, the department of Science and Technology (DST) and Department of Heavy Industries (DHI) have come together to create the Technology Platform for Electric Mobility (TPEM). TPEM is a common platform wherein the Union government has agreed to provide 60% of Research & Development (R&D) costs to boost indigenous development of low-cost electronic vehicle production including scooters, cars and possibly trucks. The remaining 40% will be funded by userindustry partners such as Mahindra, Tata and others who’ll contribute in terms of manpower, equipment and facilities.

TPEM aims to involve developers, suppliers, automakers who will work together in five areas — lithium battery technology, motors and drives, charging infrastructure, drive cycle and traffic pattern, light-weighting of XEVs or plug-in vehicles. The consortium of projects and innovations will be funded from the 14000 Crore INR corpus that the government has earmarked under the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) whose primary motive is to hasten the Faster Adoption and

Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles in India (FAME) programme.

Spokesperson from DST comments, “At present, critical components such as battery, motor and motor controllers, used in electric vehicles are imported, making costs often prohibitive and creating hurdles towards faster adoption of FAME. The ‘Make in India’ initiative, will allow low-cost electric technology to help replace petrol and diesel-run vehicles, which are currently used as public transport and reduce pollution as well. Domestic production of critical components also means that the vehicles and associated accessories can be tailormade to Indian sensibilities by largely Indian engineers and entrepreneurs.

A home-grown solution also leads to effective transition from prototype to testing and validation phase a little more easily.” Considering the pricing and legal principles behind production of e-vehicles that would run across the geographically diverse Indian subcontinent, it makes sense to see that ‘Make in India’ innovates, produces and sustains vehicles of tomorrow that can become catalysts of a greener future at home.

NEWSCAN

AIILSG to implement skill development in Rajasthan All India Institute for local Self-Government (AIILSG) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the government of Rajasthan recently to implement its landmark project Employment Linked Skill Training Program Jaipur: Over the next three years AIILSG will train more than nine hundred students in technical and soft skills and also help them with placement after they have successfully completed the course. This program will be conducted by AIILSG in two districts, Jaipur and Kota. There will be multiple batches of thirty students each and the training program will last two to four months. The number of students may also go up as the program proceeds.

Rajasthan Skill and Livelihood Development Corporation (RSLDC) is the nodal agency to implement this program on behalf of the government of Rajasthan. This skill training program is directed towards unemployed and marginalized youth of Rajasthan by way of providing financial assistance through grant-in-aid received from the state government. This MoU between RSLDC and AIILSG was signed accordingly to achieve the target. The idea is to provide skill training to unemployed, marginalized youth including school dropouts so to enable them secure a sustainable career in future.

Speaking on the occasion, Krishna Kunal, Managing Director of RSLDC, said “because of supporting partners like AIILSG and others we are able to run more than two hundred eighty centers today across the state and more than one lakh youth have been trained over the last three years and this could not have been possible without the support of training partners”. He further added “Placement is very crucial and for that quality training is very important. That makes the task of placement easier. And in order to ensure quality training the third party certification will be ensured”.

Krishna Kunal, Managing Director of RSLDC and Ravi Ranjan Guru, Sr Executive Director (AIILSG), signing the MoU for Employment Linked Skill Training Program

The centers will start running in forty five days time from the day of the signing of the MoU. This is another feather in the cap of the institute that has been working at the local level. After signing the MoU, Senior Executive Director of AIILSG Ravi Ranjan Guru said that the institute is committed to build skilled workforce for a range of sectors in Rajasthan and other states. AIILSG has a history of empowering municipal employees and elected representatives in cities and will remain committed to impart training to youngsters so that they can improve the operational efficiency of our local bodies by bringing innovation in work culture.

Under this project, mobilization will be a key factor in order to make the program successful. AIILSG will appoint mobilisers in both districts.

It also will take help from local level

AIILSG will establish fully equipped dedicated skill training and development center with required infrastructure for training. It will also conduct market assessment study from time to time to understand the changing trend and identification of courses which will have employment potential

government officials like Block Development Officers among others.

Local panchayats and Mukhiyas along with Local NGOs will also be roped in for maximum participation in the program.If required institute also plans to engage in innovative activities to attract the participants. It will also engage parents of candidates to ensure placement and relocation of candidates.

www.urbanupdate.in | February 2017

21

BRIEFS

Union budget 2017 to have provision for fat tax A 11-member group of top bureaucrats recommended “imposition of additional taxes on foods with added sugar, salt and saturated fats” or ‘Fat Tax’ to be a part of the upcoming union budget 2017. According to National Family Health Survey (NFHS) data for 201516, the number of obese people has doubled in the past decade.

Union health secretary CK Mishra comments, “Growth in junk foods like pizza, burger, chips and soft drinks has led to increase in diabetes and hypertension. Thus, it is the group’s recommendation to PM Modi that this tax be implemented, the revenue from which will increase public spending on health from 1.16% to 1.5 % of the GDP.”

USGBC awards India 3rd rank in green building rating India was awarded 3rd position in the US Green Building Council (USGBC) annual ranking of the top 10 countries for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), a green building rating system.

LEED-certified buildings save energy and water while reducing carbon emissions and creating a healthier environment for all. India leads in the rankings because it has 15.90 million gross square metres (GSM) of LEED-certified space and an additional 89.28 million cumulative GSM of LEEDcertified and -registered space.

Currently, India has about 77 green buildings with LEED Gold or Silver rating. Indira Paryavaran Bhavan in New Delhi, India’s first on-site net zero building is expected to qualify as LEED Platinum building.

22 February 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

NEWSCAN

JICA will make Tamil Nadu a ‘Smart City’ TAMIL NADU: Japan has shown interest in developing Chennai as a ‘Smart City’ by providing technical expertise to improve metro systems, desalination technology, business opportunities and cultural heritage.

Tamil Nadu CM O. Panneerselvam has met with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) President Shinichi Kitaoka to provide assistance on crucial infrastructural projects.

JICA has agreed to fund 59% of the Rs. 14,600 Crore Chennai Metro in Phase 1 with the central and state government pitching in the rest. Moreover, a desalination plant, worth Rs 5800 Crore that will treat 400 million litres per day (MLPD) of seawater to improve supply of drinking water in the state too has been approved. JICA will pay Rs 4000 Crore and the remaining expenditure will be decided by the central and state governments.

Panneerselvam has expressed admiration for JICA’s help and comments, “Tamil Nadu is fortunate to receive JICA’s help. Thanks to their investments and guidance, Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor will be developed

as part of the Tamil Nadu Investment Promotion Programme (TNIPP). This will propel our ease of doing business rankings released by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) from time to time. Developing Wi-Fi facilities state-wide, building bicycle paths and waste management systems will be addressed in the next phase of utility developments.”

Japan is also trying to ensure that amidst all developmental activities, the cultural heritage of the city isn’t endangered. For this, the Tamil Nadu government is following the development model of the City Of Kyoto in Japan. With 1600 Buddhist places and 400 Shinto shrines kept in pristine condition, Kyoto has earned praise from the Japanese government and the global community alike for blending infrastructural development with heritage monuments. This is something that the Tamil Nadu government wishes to replicate in the state that has nearly 33,000 ancient temples some as old 4000 years old. With JICA’s assistance a certainty, Tamil Nadu hopes to make its dream of a ‘Smart City’ a reality soon.

NEWSCAN

Bengaluru rated most dynamic city in the world, beats Silicon Valley & London NEW DELHI: Bengaluru has emerged as the most dynamic city in Jones Lang LaSalle’s fourth annual City Momentum Index of cities around the world, followed by Ho Chi Minh City of Vietnam and Silicon Valley in the U.S. After Bengaluru, Hyderabad at rank 5 making India a proud leader of the world’s Top 10. Chennai and Pune feature in the Top 20, while Delhi and Mumbai follow behind in the Top 30.

Top 10 cities in the JLL index are Bengaluru, Ho Chi Minh City, Silicon Valley, Shanghai, Hyderabad, London, Austin, Hanoi, Boston and Nairobi.The position of Delhi (No. 23) and Beijing (No.15) has been hindered in the list because of their poor environment since livability was also considered a major basis for the list “Most dynamic cities share the ability to embrace technological change, absorb rapid population growth and strengthen global connectivity. Cities in India, China and Vietnam, along with several in the U.S., head the list of the world’s fastest changing cities,” said a press release by Jones Lang LaSalle.

The index judges the cities on 42 factors across three key areas. The JLL report mentioned Bengaluru, saying,

“Silicon Valley of India effectively combined a mix of research institutes and higher education establishments to create a solid and sizeable IT cluster.

With 40% of India’s IT industry located in the city, the presence of international IT giants, together with the largest number of high-tech start-ups of any Indian city, is providing added impetus to Bangalore’s entrepreneurial growth.”

“With more than half the world’s population currently living in cities, a proportion that is expected to grow substantially over the next few decades, the success of our cities takes on great importance,” noted Jeremy Kelly, JLL Director of Global Research. “The CMI highlights that, despite various political upheavals and ongoing economic uncertainties, many cities continue to show impressive dynamism. Keys to their success are the agility and openness that enable them to adapt quickly to each new wave of global change.

London fell from its top spot to sixth position (full details of the rankings and the causes of changes within them were not yet available).

A “shift into high-value activities” also propelled Bangalore and Hyderabad ahead of other tech hubs. Dynamic

labor markets helped drive “emerging megacities,’ like Delhi and Mumbai, but “this group faces significant infrastructure and quality of life issues, with high levels of inequality, congestion and pollution hindered by weak city governance,” JLL said.

“Momentum can create challenges as well as opportunities and local populations may experience more downside than upsides,” Kelly said in an email. “Bangalore – like most other emerging cities – faces big challenges in ‘absorbing’ rapid growth, such as urban sprawl, lack of planning oversight, environmental degradation and a lack of suitable infrastructure.

These are far from unique to Bangalore – but will need to be addressed and managed if Bangalore is to transform its momentum into longer-term success,” he said.

In all, 134 cities were assessed by CMI using 42 variables including recent and projected changes in city GDP, population, corporate headquarter presence, commercial real estate construction and rents. Other factors included education, innovation and environment. Jones Lang LaSalle will publish full research findings on February 1, 2017.

www.urbanupdate.in | February 2017

23

one on one | Vijay Rupani, Chief Minister of Gujarat

“Gujarat welcomes healthy competition among states” Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani speaks to Urban Update on the significance of Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit and development imperatives for improved future for the citizens

Kumar Dhananjay Consulting Editor kd.urbanupdate@gmail.com

This was the first Vibrant Gujarat Summit under your leadership.

How will you rate the success of the Summit?

The journey of Vibrant Gujarat began with an objective of re-establishing Gujarat as an investment destination.

Under the leadership of Shri Narendra Modiji, we achieved this objective.

Gujarat received USD 6 billion worth of FDI between 2000 and 2010 and over USD 7.2 billion worth of FDI in the last five years. This has made Gujarat one of the top 5 FDI recipients in India.

The theme for the 8th Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit was Connecting India to the World, and we have achieved this objective as well. During this summit, students, academicians, researchers and members from R&D institutions from across the country and the globe participated in the interactive Nobel Dialogue event with 9 Nobel Laureates. Moreover, four Heads of Government and over thirty Cabinet and Chief Ministers from across the globe participated in this edition of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit. Also,

24 February 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

regulators and policy makers from across the country participated in an interactive session on ease of doing business.

More than 25,000 strategic investment intentions/MoUs were signed during this edition of the Summit, which was also higher than ever before. Also, for the first time this Summit had 12 Partner Countries, which is the highest ever. I am happy to share that both global and Indian investors are looking at Gujarat with renewed optimism and enthusiasm. I am sure that all of this will go a long way in incremental investment and employment in Gujarat.

The purpose of a Summit like this is to attract investment and create jobs for locals. This is a two way process.

First, investors look for conducive atmosphere for business and another availability of skilled manpower in the region. How Gujarat is ahead in this domain from other states?

As per a study by Department for Industrial Policy & Promotion, Government of India and the World Bank, Gujarat bagged top rank in Ease of Doing Business Index of 2015. In addition, a study by National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) in a study that was also supported by British High Commission, ranked Gujarat as the top performing state in terms of ‘investment potential’.

I am sure that these are indications reflecting the competitive advantage of Gujarat. Gujarat has all the attributes that are conducive for businesses to

grow and prosper – such as availability of 24 X 7 power, state-wide gas and water grid, 2 international airports, robust road and rail network, 48 major and minor ports and other supporting infrastructure.

Gujarat is a policy driven state. Over the last 3 years, more than 16 policies have been announced by the state across sectors such as Aerospace &Defence, IT &ITeS, Electronics, Textiles, Renewable Energy and Tourism.

Moreover, one of the key objectives of this summit is to attract investment, so as to create jobs for locals across several sectors.

How do you think more business in the state will result in improving living conditions of the people in cities and villages? Many reports suggest that Gujarat does not fare good on human development index and other health parameters.

Business investment in state has a ripple effect on per-capita income of the people, and it also leads to improvement of purchasing power of citizens. It also leads to development of various amenities in cities and villages, while also creating job opportunities for citizens.

Gujarat is doing much better in terms of HDI and other health parameters.

We have taken lot of new initiatives which directly relate to improvement in HDI like ChiranjeeviYojana, MukhyaMantriAmrutamYojana, Bal Sakha Yojana, VanbandhuYojana, SagarKheduYojana and UWIN Card Yojana. These schemes have helped

over a period of time in improving HDI and health parameters across the state.

Smart cities are in the trend. Please elaborate on the lessons learned from a township like GIFT near Ahmedabad? What can other states and city governments learn from such projects? Are such cities inclusive in nature?

The future of urban India lies in smart cities and Gujarat has planned smart cities at the very beginning of this century. We have conceptualized, planned and implemented smart cities concept for e.g. GIFT City, Dholera Smart City. Planning is the basis of any smart city. It should include joint efforts and feedback by all stakeholders concerned. The planning should be holistic and inclusive, and there should be special emphasis on covering all sections of the society under the ambit of a self sustainable smart city concept.

There are a number of MoUs signed during the summit. All of them do not realize into actual investments.

How many of them you are expecting to realize this year?

Vijay Rupani CM Gujarat

It is important to understand that MoUs relate to various sectors such as urban development, infrastructure, large scale industries and so on and so forth. Each sector has its unique implementation schedule/ramp up period. It will be prudent to see realization of MoUs from a long term perspective rather than taking a yearly view on realization.

I am happy to share that of all the MoUs signed in the last seven VG summits, more than 65% are either commissioned or under implementation.

The reason for asking this question was that doubts have been raised over the figures provided by the state government. In terms of capital inflow due to the creation of new private companies, in 2011-12, Gujarat came only 5th behind Maharashtra, Delhi, Tamilnadu and West Bengal.

Even later situation has remained the same. So will you still claim that Gujarat is a preferred investment destination?

Looking at just one statistic of 2011-12 may not give the right picture. If we look at FDI statistics for instance, Gujarat received 7.2 billion USD worth of FDI from 2011 to 2016, as against FDI of USD 6 billion from 2000 to 2010. In addition, if you look at the Industrial Entrepreneur Memorandum (IEM) figures of the last five years, Gujarat ranks among the top 2 both in terms of IEM filings and implementation. This clearly reflects Gujarat’s position as a preferred investment destination.

In terms of per capita income, Gujarat fares

worse coming in a poor 9th in the country which means an average person in Gujarat earns lesser than his counterparts in 8 other states. How will you justify holding a summit like this and how is it contributing to a common man’s life?

In relation with other states that have a similar geographical area like Gujarat, I am confident that you will find Gujarat among the top 5 states in terms of per capita income.

There is an impression that Vibrant Gujrat Summit is meant for rich business just to mint money. Will you dispel that notion?

The Summit is not only for rich business, rather it is a platform for ideation, knowledge exchange and networking.

Apart from businesses –farmers, students, researchers, academicians, thought leaders participated and engaged in discussions in VG 2017.

All these ideations and discussions helped us in making new policies and improving the previous ones.

Every state is holding its own investment summit. MP, UP, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, etc….Gujarat started the trend. Do you look at it as healthy competition among states?

Absolutely. Infact, Jharkhand, Assam, Maharashtra and Arunachal Pradesh held a ‘State Seminar’ during Vibrant Gujarat 2017 Summit to promote investment. Gujarat welcomes healthy competition among states.

In this Summit we saw MoUs being signed but mostly from Indian banks and investors. What was the total amount of MoUs signed in 2017?

Our focus is not on the amount of MoUs signed in 2017, but on the quality of MoUs and the expected ripple effect they will create in terms of employment, infrastructure development and inclusive growth.

We have received MoUs from all sectors including education, urban development, water supply, power, renewable energy, manufacturing, IT & ITeS and so on and so forth.

www.urbanupdate.in | February 2017

25

COVER STORY | Clean Energy For All

COVER STORY | Clean Energy For All

Let there be

light 26 February 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

Abhishek Pandey | Editor ap.urbanupdate@gmail.com

Can India ensure ‘24x7 power for all’ by 2022 without increasing its emission? Yes, India can. The government has decided to invest hugely in renewable energy to meet its growing power demands in the wake of fast-paced urbanisation and economic development. The new policy decisions in the sector have to balance feasibility, affordability and environmental sustainability

I

ndia is an energy poor country. Over 300 million people and almost 18,000 villages do not have access to electricity and per capita power consumption (1010kWh) is far below thatof many developing nations. The neighboring China has a per capita consumption of 4,000kWh and the average of developed nations is around 15,000kWh per capita.

India is poised to grow and many new initiatives of the government such as Make in India, Smart Cities

www.urbanupdate.in | February 2017

27

COVER STORY | Clean Energy For All

Mission, Digital India and many others for improving standard of living and accelerating economic development would spur the power demand drastically. The government’sambitious plan of electrifying all villages and providing 24x7 uninterrupted power supply to all will need immaculate planning and swift execution to meet the increasing demand. The work also involves improving the financial

health of distribution companies and building an efficiently linked national grid. And, all of this needs to be done in sustainable manner.

Clean energy

The nation has renewed its renewable energy targets to achieve 175GW power from renewable sources by 2022.

100GW of this is planned through solar energy, 60GW through wind energy,

10GW through small hydro power, and 5GW through biomass-based power projects. Of the 100GW target for solar, 40GW is expected to be achieved through deployment of decentralized rooftop projects, 40GW through utilityscale solar plants, and 20GW through ultra-mega solar parks. It does not seem unattainable.

The country has made steady progress in terms of generating power and per

Can a city run on 100% renewable energy?

Yes. Many cities around the world are adopting renewable energy to cut down carbon emissions, protect urban environment, reduce pollution and also save money. Even cities in the developed world and in the countries where fossil fuels are available in abundance are turning to sustainable energy options. After Burlington, Aspen, Columbia and Greensburg in the United States of America, Las Vegas became the largest US city to run on 100 per cent renewable energy.

“We can brag that the city, this city of Las Vegas, is one of the few cities in the entire world that can boast using all of its power from a green source,” Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman said in a press conference after Boulder Solar 1 — a solar power plant on the edge of Boulder City, Nevada — went live. According to newspaper Huffington Post, the plant’s acres of solar panels will provide 100 per cent of the city’s municipal power, excluding commercial and residential buildings.

Even the countries in Middle-east are lapping up renewable energy options despite having oil and gas in abundance.

The world of energy is changing faster than ever and it is changing the world. At one time, most of the world was wholly dependent on fire wood then it shifted to fossil fuels and now, everyone is talking about renewable energy. But the hesitation of being dependent on RE for power needs remains. The general apprehensions about renewable energy include it is expensive, involves complex systems and is less reliable e.g. when sun is not shining and wind is not blowing. However, technological interventions have cleared the air and proved that renewable energy is the future in a sustainable world that all the nations are committed to build.

We can brag that the city, this city of Las Vegas, is one of the few cities in the entire world that can boast using all of its power from a green source Carolyn Goodman Las Vegas Mayor

All municipal service in Law Vegas are run on clean energy

28 February 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

India is poised to grow and many new initiatives of the government such as Make in India, Smart Cities Mission, Digital India and many others for improving standard of living and accelerating economic development would spur the power demands drastically capita consumption. According to the data available with Central Electricity Authority, over the years the installed capacity of Power Plants (Utilities) has increased to about 3,02,088 MW from a meager 1713 MW in 1950.

Similarly, the electricity generation increased from about 5.1 Billion units in 1950 to 1,107 BU (including imports) in the year 2015-16. The per capita consumption of electricity in the country has also increased from 15 kWh in 1950 to about 1,010 kWh in the year 2014-15. But the progress in generating electricity through renewable sources has not made significant improvement for multiple reasons. The most important is the unavailability of advanced and effective technological options and poor policy regime to encourage growth in the sector. With hi-tech advancements in the energy sector, the RE projects can be made operational from one year to three years after conceptualizing while the conventional power plant would require ten years.

As per the Report of the Expert Group on “175 GW Renewable Energy by 2022” by Niti Ayog, “One of India’s major advantages today and going forward is that its renewable energy (RE) potential is vast and largely untapped. Recent estimates show that India’s solar potential is greater than 750 GW and its announced wind potential is 302 GW (actual could be higher than 1000 GW). India Energy Security Scenarios 2047 show a

possibility of achieving a high of 410 GW of wind and 479 GW of solar PV by 2047. The potential of biomass and small hydro is also significant. Thus, renewable energy has the potential to anchor the development of India’s electricity sector.”

This is important because the energy demand in the country is likely to grow manifold with more cities and industries coming up in the country.

The government is building new cities and attracting manufactures from all over the world to set up their plants here. It will not only increase the power demand but also put a pressure on emission. Moving towards RE is required to bring about a technical shift in the energy sector which will not only cut down cost in long run but also help in bringing down carbon emission and stick to commitments made in Paris meet last year.

To achieve the RE targets smoothly within the deadline set by the government, the Niti Ayog recommends “…all non-financial support options should be made available to RE e.g. project development, policy support, legislative enablers, and coordinated implementation ecosystem. Such interventions are critical to reach the 175GW RE targets. The ecosystems should also ensure that all direct and indirect incentives should get reflected in the tariff of RE at the procurement end. Further the incentive design and procurement mechanism should be specific to the characteristics of resource and technology under consideration.”

Opportunities abound

The government has launched a series of initiatives to boost the growth of RE sector in India. The success of the initiative would require ironing out the wrinkles in the related sectors including power grid management and distribution system. To promote the development of Smart Grid in the country, Government of India has launched ‘National Smart Grid Mission (NSGM)’ in March, 2015 for planning, monitoring and implementation of policies and programs related to development of

Smart Grid in India. The total estimated cost for NSGM activities for 12th plan is Rs980 cr including a budgetary support of Rs338 cr. Under NSGM, 30 per cent funding will be provided for development of Smart Grid in selected Smart Cities in the country along with development of micro grid in the country. 100% funding is also proposed for training & capacity building,consumer engagement, etc. Two smart grid projects i.e. Chandigarh Electricity Department, Chandigarh and MSEDCL, Maharashtra have been approved with an approved project cost of Rs 28.58 Crores and Rs 90.05 Crores respectively. According to a report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), a London-based energy consultancy, India needs $100 billion in asset financing for renewable energy over the next six years. Government financing forms only a small part of the total investment. In 2015, India invested $10.2 billion of public and private money in renewable energy, about a quarter of the annual investment needed. In 2016-17, the government budgeted $758 million (Rs 5,035.79 cr) for renewable energy.

‘Renewable Energy and JobsAnnual Review 2016’ by International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) estimates that global renewable energy employment increased by 5 per cent in 2015 to reach 8.1 million. An additional 1.3 million people are employed in large hydropower.

The employment generation potential of Indian Renewable energy market is significant. With more investors coming in the sector, the number of jobs created in the sector would go up. According to the report ‘‘Filling the skill Gap in India’s Clean Energy Market: Solar Energy Focus’’ released by Natural Resources Defense Council and the Council of Energy, Environment and Water, India’s target of 100 GW of solar power would generate more than one million jobs by 2022. The 60 GW wind target is projected to create a further 183,500 jobs across the various phases.

This is an opportunity for cities to invest in renewable energy and take benefit.

www.urbanupdate.in | February 2017

29

Numerographs | Clean Energy

India’s Energy Conundrum India would require at least USD300 billion as investment, over the next six years, for renewables, with around $100 billion solely required for solar power. The nation is among the top five countries which are making huge investment in renewable energy to meet their growing power demands. Apart from this, the government has launched many initiatives and policy interventions to promote energy efficiency and improve operational efficiency of the energy sector as a whole Team UrbanUpdate

Top 10 states for energy recovery potential from MSW in India

Electric power consumption

kWh per capita

18000 16000

350 From Solid Wastes (MW) From Liquid Wastes(MW) 300

15519

14000 12988 12000 10904

250

10000 8000

200

10134 9084

9301

6000

7836

4000 150

4694

From Solid Wastes (MW)

3752

From Liquid Wastes(MW) 2000 100

0

1971

7019

7517

3416

3762

4064

152 687

2013

98

765 94

450

293 11

50

0

Source: World Bank, MNRE (Govt. Of India), Global Carbon Atlas, Emissions 2016, MINISTRY OF STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION, GARV App, Rural Electrification Corporation, Central Electricity Authority

30 February 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

Installed capacity of power station Coal

Gas + Diesel

Nuclear

Hydro

RE targets 2022

(in MW)

RES

Small Hydro Power, 5

15%

Wind Power, 60 Solar Power, 100

14%

2%

61%

BIO Power, 10

8%

Top five Co2 emmitters

Top five investors in RE

2015

Japan Japan

2015

Investment in clean energy (in billion)

1237 1237

$103

Russia Russia

1617 1617

India India

2274 2274

USA USA

$44

5414 5414

$36 $22

China China

10357 10357 0 0

2000 2000

4000 4000

$10

6000 6000

(MtCO2)

8000 8000

10000 10000

12000 12000

China

USA

Japan

United Kingdom

India

Investment in clean energy (in billion)

(MtCO2)

$103

18000

Around villages still do not have electricity

China

$44

23

$36

Around % of India’s electricity is lost in transmission and distribution USA

Japan

300

million people $22 still do not have access $10 to electricity United Kingdom

India

www.urbanupdate.in | February 2017

31

Leaderspeak | Solar Power

Ranjit S Chavan President, AIILSG

Sun to shine India Growing power needs and sustainability concerns have impelled India to resort to clean energy alternatives. In last couple of years, the nation has added significant power generation capacity through solar energy. It still offers immense potential to realize nation’s goal to generate 175GW from renewable sources and provide power to all at affordable tariff

I

ndia has shifted its focus from generating energy from conventional resources to renewable ones. Solar energy appears to be its favourite. According to government data, solar power installed capacity in the country has increased significantly from just 3.7 MW in 2005 to about 4060 MW in 2015, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of more than 100 per cent over the decade. In 2016, the capacity has crossed the 8000MW mark. The progress in the sector is commendable but the nation needs to make concentrated and incessant efforts to achieve the target within deadline. The target of the government is to touch the 100GW mark by 2022.

Policy reforms

Union Cabinet recently gave its ex-post facto approval to the proposal of Ministry of New & Renewable Energy

32 Februay 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

(MNRE) for ratification of International Solar Alliance (ISA)’s Framework Agreement by India. ISA was launched jointly by the Prime Minister of India and the President of France on November 30, 2015 at Paris on the side-lines of the 21st CoP meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The ISA will strive to bring together more than 121 solar resource rich nations for coordinated research, low cost financing and rapid deployment. The Agreement was opened for signature on the sidelines of 22nd CoP meeting at Marrakesh, Morocco. Till now, 25 nations have signed the Framework Agreement. ISA Headquarters has been set up in Gurugram.

India has already committed the required support for operationalisation of the ISA. The alliance will put India globally in a leadership role in climate and renewable

energy issues.

According to the government sources, India would take many other initiatives to scale up the energy generation capacity through solar energy.

These include a scheme for development of 25 Solar Parks, Ultra Mega Solar Power Projects and canal top solar projects. Some of them are already being implemented pan India. Solar projects would also contribute in saving energy. For this: the government plans to distribute over 100,000 solar pumps for farmers.

Government of India is also promoting solarization of all the 55,000 petrol pumps across the country out of which about 3,135 petrol pumps have already been solarized.

Learning together

All the states need to gear up to expedite the work to improve power generation capacity

through solar projects. It is to be noted that just seven states, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, and Punjab contribute to about 80 per cent of total installed capacity. Other big states such as Maharashtra, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are lagging behind.

The state governments must pull up their socks to compete with the states that are leaders in the domain.

For example: Gujarat had come up with an innovative solution of canal top solar power plants that not just solved the land acquisition issue for implementing solar projects. It also prevented loss of precious water in the canals through evaporation.

According to data journalism website Indiaspend, the canal-top solar panels were installed in Gujarat in 2012. The canaltop idea was first tabled at a 2011 Vibrant Gujarat Summit by the then Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi.

The idea was revolutionary because it solved the most crucial problem of setting up solar power plants: land acquisition. The government could easily utilise the area above the canals, saving the government the cost, time and inconvenience associated with land acquisition. The idea worked and bore fruits for Gujarat which became a leading state in generating

power through solar. Gujarat alone has a canal network of 80,000 km. Using even 30 per cent of this network for canaltop solar projects, according to GSECL estimates, 18,000 MW of power could be produced in just Gujarat – almost equal to the current coal-based installed capacity of Delhi, Rajasthan and Telangana – and 90,000 acres of land, or twice the size of Kolkata, could be saved. In other words, installing solarpanels over 30% of Gujarat’s canals could be used to meet nearly a fifth of India’s solar power targets by 2022.

Other countries are also using innovative ways to use the potential of solar power. For example: Solar roads may not be a popular

idea in India yet but it is catching the attention of the renewable energy experts in many global cities. The panels used in such roads are made up of a modular system of specially engineered solar panels that can be walked and driven upon. At present, China and Germany are the world leaders in harnessing the potential of solar energy.

Their total installed capacity through solar is 43,530 and 39,700 MW respectively.

India is currently way behind.

However, the country has perfect conditions to generate more power from solar and it has set its target accordingly.

If all goes as planned, the nation has all possibility to become a world leader in solar energy.

www.urbanupdate.in | February 2017

33

Article | Renewable Energy

Towards 100%

Renewable Energy A 2011 study by Stanford University Professor Mark Jacobson and Mark Delucchi stated that it was entirely possible to move to 100% renewable energy supply globally. They articulated their vision based on a conviction that it is feasible to generate all new energy with renewables by 2030

V Vijaykumar Sr Advisor, AIILSG

T

hey further added that all existing energy generation arrangements could be replaced with renewable sources by 2050. All this could be achieved at no additional energy costs compared to those today.

They felt that all technological and cost barriers are being dismantled and no more present any obstacle to the achievement of this goal.

Given the rapid environmental degradation and the forecast of catastrophic outcomes of climate

34 February 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

change, there is heightened dependence on renewables and technological breakthroughs have enabled meet targets well ahead of time. Historically too, before the advent of fossil fuels, the world has run of renewable energy-water power and wind power-wind to power ships over water and to power windmills to crush grains and lift water. It seems we are rapidly moving towards the safe and benign practices of our forefathers. The REN 21 Report states that in 2014 renewables contributed 19.2 per cent of human energy needs and in 2015 such sources accounted for nearly 24 percent of electricity generation. Developed and developing nations are making commitments to significantly scale up the composition of renewables in their energy baskets over shorter time frames.

Some 120 countries have various policy targets for longer-term shares of renewable energy, including a 20 per cent target of all electricity generated for the European Union by 2020. Outside Europe many countries have targeted renewable energy shares of between 10 and 50 per cent by 2020-2030. Some are even targeting 100 per cent.

Renewables for power generation and automobiles

Renewable energy flows involve the harnessing of natural phenomena such as sunlight, wind, river water, tides, plant growth, and geothermal heat. Application of renewable energy technologies is found most commonly in power generation (including for heating) and the automotive sector.

Achievements of some countries particularly in power generation are noteworthy. In 2015 wind power met 42 per cent of electricity demand in Denmark, 23.2 per cent in Portugal and 15.5 per cent in Uruguay. By 2040 the global electricity generation using renewables is likely to equal that of coal and gas.

As regards heating, it is estimated that rooftop and other solar devices heat up nearly 70 million households of which China itself accounts for over 50 million. Bioethanol is used as an additive to petrol and diesel to power automobiles. Brazil has

achieved noteworthy success in such blending. In India there are plans to jack up ethanol blending in petrol to 22.5 per cent and in diesel to 15 per cent. This reduces the dependence on imports of crude while producing marked reduction in carbon monoxide and other emissions. Solar energy is now being used in automotive applications. While road running solar operated vehicles are not yet practical commercially, solar powered boats are produced for commercial use.

Mainstream renewables

Among the most popular and the oldest of renewables is wind power. Windgenerated electricity met nearly 4 per cent of global electricity demand in 2015. In India too, wind has the lion’s share of 56 per cent in the current renewable mix of about 50 GW. Rapid technological advances in the field have enabled squeeze out more power even from low wind intensity sites. Rotor diameters, for example, now exceed 100 metres and tower heights 120 metres.

Another development is the offshore wind farms, where wind speeds are much higher than land and with little issues of land acquisition or opposition by local communities. Wind power is however hampered by low yields, usually 20 to 50 per cent.

Solar photovoltaic (PV) is the process of converting light energy from the sun into electrical energy using solar panels made up of solar cells. The solar panels may be either small standalone individual ones mounted on buildings including homes or in the form of large arrays at a solar farm feeding into a grid. Then we have solar thermal which directly uses the heat of the sun as in solar cookers or roof top water heaters.

Large Hydro electric power has played an important part in India’s energy landscape. As of September 2015 share of large hydro in India’s energy basket was 43 GW, about the same as renewables 44 GW. Hydro power projects while having good potential in India given the number of perennial rivers and the Himalayan system, face significant delays due to environment concerns. In addition they have large gestation periods.

Not yet mainstream: Concentrated solar power

It is among the technologies which are yet not prevalent for large scale commercial application. CSP involves the use of solar energy (heat) by concentrating the beam of sunlight from a large area into a smaller area thereby creating intense heat. CSP uses various devices to achieve the concentration of the light, most commonly a parabolic trough. The heat is then used to boil water in pipes, generate steam and run steam turbines to generate electricity.

Spain is a front runner in CSP technology with a total installed capacity of 2300 MW in 2014. The USA which houses the world’s largest facility had about 1750 MW. The Middle East, notably Abu Dhabi is making good progress.

While the share of CSP is low at just 2% of solar power, some studies state that it has potential to meet 25% of the world energy needs by 2050. Cost is an obstacle. While the CSP cost was similar to solar PV some years ago, rapid reduction in PV costs in recent years have made CSP seem unattractive. In some quarters there are environmental concerns too. Findings suggest that birds could be singed (burned) due to the intense heat if they were to fly close to the line of heat.

Geothermal energy

This method uses the immense heat trapped in the core of the earth beneath the surface. This is done by drilling into the surface of the earth’s surface and extracting the hot water in aquifers.

Once the pressure is released this hot water comes above the surface in the form of steam akin to a hot spring geyser, which is then used to drive turbines of a power generator. The steam then condenses to water which could be injected back into the earth to charge the aquifers. In cases where such hot water does not exist, two bore wells are drilled. Through one, water is injected into the earth. There due to the high temperature, it turns into steam and emerges through the other bore to drive the turbine. The steam later condenses to water and is injected back.

In 2015, the global geothermal capac-

ity was 12.8 GW with the USA having the largest share at 28%. In terms of economics, while the fuel cost is zero, the technology involves substantial capital expenditure, mainly in the form of drilling costs. Most drilling is within the range of 3 to 4 kms but some larger depths have also been attained at much higher cost. Therefore exploitation of geothermal energy could be feasible in locations with favourable geological characteristics, where high temperatures exist closer to the earth’s surface.

On the environment front Geothermal energy is considered friendly since it generates just about 45 Kg of CO2 equivalent per MW hr as against 1000 Kg for a coal fired plant. In addition to some Greenhouse gas emissions which escape from the earth, there could be some harmful chemicals. In addition, these have been instances of seismic imbalance and even earthquakes resulting from the drilling activity.

Marine energy

Given that 70 per cent of the earth’s surface is comprised of oceans and there is enormous amount of energy contained in the sea waters, these present great opportunities for development of clean, renewable energy. Significant amount of work is happening in sectors such as wave energy and tidal power. However, many of these technologies are yet to move beyond the demonstration devices stage towards commercial application. There are environment concerns here too. The noise from equipment and presence of physical structures, wires and cables underwater could pose dangers for marine organisms and the ecosystem.

As is apparent there are a number of presently viable technologies which are in commercial use and many emerging ones which hold great promise. Rapid depletion of finite fossil fuel reserves and growing concerns for the environment will enable quick commercialization of all these technologies and development of new ones. We have no choice but to move towards 100 percent renewable energy if mankind and this planet are to survive beyond a few centuries more.

www.urbanupdate.in | February 2017

35

Article | Waste to Energy

Tap the potential of waste

its urgent now!

I

Abhilash Khandekar National Political Editor Dainik Bhaskar

36 February 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

ndia is one of the world’s fastest urbanising countries.

It has its advantages and disadvantages. But if we are also the dirtiest then obviously there’s a problem. The solid waste generated in big cities and small towns is acquiring humongous proportions, notwithstanding the admirable “Swachh Bharat “ campaign, the pet project of PM Narendra Modi.

Solid waste, also known as municipal solid waste (MSW) in urbanisation parlance is one issue which is multi-

dimensional and by the sheer failure and incompetence of local self governments, it is giving birth to social, economic and health problems which were non-existent just about, say two decades ago. The solid waste generation issue is not a result of growing population alone but mainly due to increasing consumerism, rapid life style changes, economic growth, industrialisation and lack of collective responsibility of the citizenry.

The policy makers are aware of the intensity of the problem but are largely

clueless about disposal techniques and methodology. As late as in November 2016, NGT asked Delhi government to find out the total quantity of waste generated in the national capital.

Gazipur landfill near Delhi, Bhalsawa landfill under North Delhi MC and Okhla, besides the Deonar garbage dump in Mumbai are just a few glaring big examples which poke a finger at the face of Indian urban administration.

I have seen Gazipur landfill and its inhuman surroundings where people eat in the open, and are forced to live life and breathe toxic gases daily. Often fires erupt from such dumping grounds releasing dangerous methane gases but apparently, neither in Mumbai nor in Delhi there exists a fool-proof plan to control these frequent fires.

The scenario elsewhere in the country could be imagined if things are so bad in Delhi and Mumbai.

India’s municipal solid waste collection per day has shockingly tripled in the period between 2010 (50592 TPD) and 2015 (143,449 TPD) and to add insult to injury, only 23-24 per cent is processed or treated scientifically.

The capacity of municipal bodies and absence of political will to address the issue are making it worse. Delhi’s frequent strikes by garbage collectors point to another angle-finances.

Waste to energy potential

Is then the government in deep slumber? Not really! According to the Action Plan for management of municipal solid waste prepared by Central Pollution Control Board in February 2015, Ministry of Urban Development aims at 100 per cent scientific disposal of the MSW by October 2019, that is in just about two and a half years from now. Solid waste being a state subject, the State Pollution Control Boards are mandated to monitor it but the ground reality does not give us a cause to cheer. The Action Plan of Government of India itself is quite ambitious by any standard, especially when comparatively better literate or progressive states like Maharashtra top the list of daily generation (26,820 tonnes per day)

in the country. Delhi’s generation of daily waste was put at 8,390 TPD in February 2015. The other ministry which is doing its bit is Ministry of New and Renewable Energy which had a status of 33 projects in 2014-15 which are in pipeline at various stages of turning garbage into electricity. Energy statistics say India has 2556 MW of energy generation capacity from waste but only 150 MW is being harnessed presently.

In a country where more than 45 per cent of rural households do not have access to electricity which, in other words, translates to 80.07 million households (census 2011) without electricity, is renewable energy (wind, solar , biomass) going to light all houses in the country by 2022? According to an estimate if all green power combined is required to be generated to meet the target of 175,000 MW, the capital investment would be close to a whopping Rs 10,54,855 crore.

Perhaps realising this, urban development ministry notified in April 2016 rules for waste to energy sector, a clear and defining step to boost the investors. How many new investors it would attract is anybody’s guess, though. While India has declared its intentions at various global fora, including at Paris climate change summit of 2015 to go for solar energy in a big way to reduce its carbon footprint, waste to energy is one sector where the government could do more such as technology transfer, and industry-friendly policies to derive WtE projects benefits compared to other long term solutions. In most developed countries waste to energy projects are being seen as a step towards ensuring clean environment more than energy security. India, unfortunately, is both energy deficient and facing environmental threats. At least for last two decades or little more one has been hearing about transforming waste into energy to achieve the dual purpose of mitigating energy demands and cleaning up our dirty cities at a much lower cost. During the first few years there was no clear model available but now things on this front have improved

as one or the other project is coming up in each state, though the scale and technology are different.

Clearly, WtE is a new mantra for integrated solid waste management.

Since the waste generation speed is likely to increase by a frightening 50 per cent per decade, this fledgling sector holds out the real hope for all of us. What is required is to clear hurdles to bring in more investment in this sector. Some of the big industry groups like Essel, Jindal, ILF and ORS are engaged in turning the waste into a useful resource which India badly needs. Delhi, Pune, Solapur, Chennai, Hyderabad, Varanasi and Jabalpur are some cities where waste to energy plants by these groups and other local private investors are either operational or have been set up to deal with the ever growing menace of garbage and waste strewn all over. Solapur, the constituency of former union Home Minister and ex-Maharashtra CM Sushil Kumar Shinde is showing the way, as per the union urban development ministry website. The small city near Karnataka is spewing close to 400 tonnes per day of solid waste and is producing four megawatt energy which goes into the electricity grid. The pilot of the project by ORS was done in 2013 and it is doing well, as per the local municipal corporation officials.

Organic Recycling System Pvt Limited (ORS) has developed a new technology called DRYAD which is patented and based on the principles of Anaerobic Digester a technology based on principles of Thermophilic bio-methanation, which is more environment friendly as it reduces gas emissions into environment, something that the Sukhdev Vihar Residents Welfare Association of Delhi had pleaded before the NGT principal bench saying such plants nearby Delhi are using mass burning technology which causes severe air pollution and hence should be banned.

Suhas Bhand, the head of ORS Pvt Ltd that is successfully running a smaller and cost effective plant in Solapur says: “since in India segregation of solid

www.urbanupdate.in | February 2017

37

Article | Waste to Energy

waste is a major issue, the ORS invented an indigenous technology which is based on enzymatic decomposition of organic matter by microbial action. He said the process involved segregation of plastics, batteries, and kitchen waste to produce energy resource, “adding” the technology is increasingly getting finer with better and better use.”

However, considering the heaps of waste all over the country and the growing trend, more and more technological solutions are required to be brought into practice to deal with this issue on priority. Waste to energy plants in Delhi or other places like Solapur in Maharashtra would have to be replicated elsewhere fast so that the issue of cleaning up urban waste gets top priority from the government. One urbanisation expert says that landfills like Deonar or Gazipur would take years to be completely cleaned up, even if no new garbage was dumped at these sites.

Already they have contaminated our water resources and air badly.

Clearly, urgent and multi-pronged actions are now required to remove the stench-filled garbage heaps in hundreds of our big and small cities.

This sector is also marred by lack of cooperation by municipal corporations to private sector investor or an NGO. Most developed countries have left waste disposal to private investors with necessary support from the government for generation of energy.

The urban development ministry in India has covered waste to energy under the Swachh Bharat campaign and MSW Rules have been notified last year. However two years record of the clean-up campaign is not very encouraging. But if the figures about waste accumulation given above in are threatening to go northwards due to multiple reasons, government and experts in the field should now sit up and take a close look at the waste to energy conversion aspects as one of the cheaper and quicker solutions. Synergy between energy ministry, urban development ministry, NITI Aayog and private investors would augur well for the country.

38 February 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

Waste to Energy Challenges for India Akash Mandyal | Editorial Assistant

Waste-to-energy (WtE) or energyfrom-waste (EfW) is the process of generating energy in the form of electricity or heat from the primary treatment of waste. WtEis a form of energy recovery. Most WtE processes produce electricity or heat directly through combustion, or produce a combustible fuel commodity, such as methane, methanol, ethanol or synthetic fuels.

Technologies for the generation of energy from MSW Thermal Conversion: The process involves thermal degradation of waste under high temperature. In this complete oxidation of the waste occurs under high temperature. The major technological option under this category is incineration. But incineration is less preferred these days because of emission concerns.

T hermo - chemical conversion: This process entails high temperature driven decomposition of organic matter to produce either heat energy or fuel oil or gas. It is useful for wastes containing high percentage of organic non-biodegradable matter and low moisture content. The main technological options under this category include Pyrolysis and Gasification.

Bio-chemical conversion: This process is based on enzymatic decomposition of organic matter by microbial action to produce methane gas, alcohol, etc. The major

technological options under this category are anaerobic digestion (bio-methanation) and fermentation.

Of the two, anaerobic digestion is the most frequently used method for waste to energy, and fermentation is an emerging option.

Current status of WtE techniques in India

Recovering energy out of the waste produced is a complicated, yet, resourceful method. India has always been lagging in this field owing to several reasons namely the lack of policyframework, technological advancements, infrastructure, sustainable planning and insufficient funding sources. Yet, the nationhas not stopped trying and is still constantly experimenting toextract energy out of its enormous pile of waste.

Chandigarh has witnessed installation of a (Refuse-derived fuel) RDF plant with a capacity of 500 TPD of MSW to produce pellets and other solid fuel. But today, the plant is rarely operated and lies dormant.

However, it is being retrofitted with MSW drying systems to reduce moisture in the final RDF. The first large scale waste incineration plant was set up at Timarpur, New Delhi in 1987,

by Miljotecknik volunteer, and Denmark. It has a capacity of 300 TDP and cost Rs 250 million. The plant was out of operation within 6 months which forced Municipal Corporation of Delhi to shut it down. The latest development in the same direction is the setup of another incineration plant at Okhla landfill site, New

Delhi. It is designed to generate 16 MW of electricity by combusting 1350 TPD of MSW. Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have installations of quite a few RDF plants at Hyderabad, Guntur and Vijayawada. The Hyderabad plant was commissioned in 1999 near Golconda dumping ground. It has a capacity of 1000 TPD but received only 700 TPD of waste until in use. It produced around 210 TPD of fluff and pellets, and was also to generate power of about 6.6 MW. The Vijayawada plant handled 500 TPD of MSW to generate 6 MW of power. Currently none of these plants are in use.

Gujarat is one of the frontrunners in using renewable sources of energy in India. The state has effectively started using waste to energy techniques as well. Anaerobic digestion is used by Kanoria Chemicals Ltd., Ankleshwar to generate 2 MW of power. Similarly, Anil Starch Products Ltd., is producing 4800 m3 of biogas per day using anaerobic digestion process. A 0.5 MW capacity power plant has been set up at the sewage treatment plant in Surat. Many other such small scale plants exist in Gujarat. Apart from biomethanation, RDF is also practiced in Gujarat, with Rajkot leading the effort.

Maharashtra is another leader in WtE projects. Maharashtra Energy Development Agency (MEDA) is constantly inviting potential investors to invest in this process. Thus, they have been successful in implementing many plants and pilot projects in Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, etc. Western Paques, Pune, has already completed testing biogas production using anaerobic digestion. The results reveal that 150 t/day of MSW produces 14,000 metric cube of biogas with methane content of 55%–65%. It has the potential to generate 1.2 MW of power. In the same direction Pune Municipal Corporation has taken a step forward to develop a MSW biomethanation plant that serves in managing the waste as well as

generating power. The plant has been operational since November 2009.

Apart from this, an incineration plant was put up at BARC, Trombay to burn institutional waste. In addition, one RDF plant at Deonar, Mumbai, owned

by Excel India was set up in early 90’s to process garbage into pellets.

However, the plant is not in operation since a few years now. The landfill site at Gorai, Mumbai had been tapped in 2008 for capturing and flaring landfill gas (LFG).

According to Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) estimates, there exists a potential of about 1460 MW of energy from MSW. While talking to Urban Update, Director General of Carbon Mine of India and Former Advisor of Environment and Forest Ministry, Dr Srikanta K Panigrahi said, “In India either we have no policy for waste to energy or if it exists there is no execution of these policies. Failure of waste to energy plants in India is all due to the carelessness of government.

Before setting up the plants we need to take some steps into consideration like location, availability of raw material, economic feasibility; also we should try a different technology if one is not working. But we are not doing anything, we are simply mixing all the waste together and we are throwing it in a common place”. He further added, “We have asked government to establish independent waste to energy authority which can look after the policies introduced. We should bring a right policy and proper planning.

Western countries are successfully using the technology but most of this technology is not relevant in India.”

India has tried quite a few things until now to extract energy from the waste generated, but has often met with failures. Ten aerobic composting projects in 1970s, a WTE project in 1980s, a large scale biomethanation project, and two RDF projects in 2003, have all met with failure. Large scale biomethanation has failed owing to the absence of source separation. A

major plant in Lucknow to produce six MW of electricity failed due to this reason.

However the same process has shown huge success on small scale, using kitchen waste, market waste, restaurant waste, etc. India has a total of five RDF processing plants, all of which have encountered operational problems due to lack of proper financial and logistical planning.

Two RDF plants have already been shut down. The initial failures of WtE technologies have turned people against the technology, which has turned out to be a key barrier in development today.

Giving the example of Delhi, Chitra Mukherjee, Head of Programmes and Operation of Chintan Environmental Research and Action group said, “When you set up a WtE Plant, it releases harmful fumes in to the air.

Residents near the WtE plant keep on complaining of the fumes which is basically ash and it keeps on collecting on their windows and cars. Delhi is already polluted without any WtE plant and despite that you are setting up more. There are so many petitions against Okhla Plant already.”

She added, “In western countries their monitoring standards are very stringent so it is easy for them to regularly check on pollution caused by WtE plants. But in India we have no equipment for monitoring or to take samples (Acc. to DPCC). Monitoring of each sample costs Rs 60000.

Pollution standards are not being met, so concept of WtE is not successful in India.” There are no faults as such in the technology. The mistakes rather are happening in the execution.

So right now what India requires is an integrated system of waste management comprising separation of waste and then the treatment of each component accordingly. Each site and the local conditions need to be analyzed thoroughly and solutions have to be designed accordingly. Only then would it be possible to make WtE work in India.

www.urbanupdate.in | February 2017

39

Article | Wind Energy

Technological advancements in the domain of Wind Energy makes India’s journey to attain 175 GW power generation target through renewable energy a cake walk Pinaki Das | Editorial Assistant

P

ower needs becomes a point of concern when one talks about ‘Smart Cities’.

Wind Energy can prove to be a game changer. India’s wind potential is 302 GW (some say it could be higher than 1000 GW). India Energy Security Scenarios 2047 show a possibility of achieving a high of 410 GW of wind by 2047.

The government of India has been actively pursuing power generation from wind. India has also become a signatory to the COP21 Paris Climate Conference and has committed to

generating 60 GW power from wind by 2022 out of the 175 GW Renewable Energy (RE) generation target.

Land based Wind Turbine Power (LBWTP) currently generates about 28,082 Mw of power as on December 31, 2016. Coastal states of Tamil Nadu (TN), Maharashtra and Gujarat are amongst the top three contenders with on-shore installed wind power plant capacities in excess of 4000 Mw. Interestingly, Off-shore Wind Turbine Power (OSWTP) has been projected to have significant potential since India has a long coastline of 7516 km. Gujarat has taken the step towards establishing

India’s first OSWTP plant by signing an MoU with Samiran Udaipur Windfarms Limited (SUWL), worth Rs 6500 Crore, having an installed capacity of 500 Mw. The plant would be setup about 12 nautical miles (22.22Km) from the Gulf of Kutch.

Expert views

Rajesh Katyal, Deputy Director-General of National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE), comments, “Eight zones with High Wind Flow (HWF) have been earmarked in (TN) and Gujarat for setting up of OSWTP plants.”

Dr. M.V.Ramana Murthy and Dr. M.A.

Wind gives wings to

sustainable energy 40 February 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

Atmanand of the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) comment, “While LBWT Pcapital expenditure (CAPEX) stands at Rs 6.71 Cr, OSWTP CAPEX for Rameshwaram in TN stands at Rs 13.79 Cr. Operations and maintenance expenditure or OPMEX for LBWTP is Rs 3.46 Cr while for OSWTP (Rameshwaram) is at Rs 13.84 Cr. Nevertheless, net profit generated from LBWTP is Rs 6.75 Cr while that for Rameshwaram is Rs 9.77 Cr. Power Generation from LBWTP stands at 4.20 Kilowatt/hr (KW/hr) while for OSWTP it stands at 10.38 KW/hr.’

S Gomathinayagam, DirectorGeneral of National Institute of Wind Energy says, “International Electro technical Commission (IEC) reports play an important role in understanding the dimensions of wind power. IEC experts say that turbines in lower wind speed (Class III) locations with an annual average wind speed of 7.5 metres/second at a given rated power will need a larger rotor to capture the same amount of energy as a similar turbine at a medium wind location (Class II) site with an annual average wind speed of 8.5 metres/second. Due to the larger rotor, costs escalate for offshore wind turbines.”

Katyal also mentions, “Despite the fact that the CAPEX and OPMEX for on-shore wind power is less than its off-shore counterpart, the power generation and life of OSWTP is higher.

On-shore wind speed is about 5 meters/ second while off-shore wind speed is at 8.65 meters/second. While a typical LBWTP would be functional for only 5 months in a year, the OSWTP would be functional for almost 10 months. The monsoonal winds have a great role to play in this.”

offshore wind power plant with an installed 175 wind turbines-a milestone in the development of offshore wind power. Siemens supplied and installed the 175 wind turbines, each with a rotor diameter of 120 meters and a rating of 3.6 MW. 33 kV power from the turbines is transported via underground sea cables (USC) to offshore substations where it is boosted to 150 kV. USC transmit this to four onshore transformers, enclosed in their own individual noise enclosure, which further boost this to 400kV before transmitting to consumers.

Siemens’ offshore direct drive technologies (DDT) wind turbines, between 2011 and 2017, generated an enormous 2.5 Terawatt per hour (TWH) of clean energy which translates into reduction of 1.25 metric tonnes of CO2 emissions or saving of 5 billion litres of freshwater. The management of wind farms translated into creating 300,000 jobs.

Denmark in 2015 exceeded its electricity demand by 140 per cent.

Interconnectors allowed 80 per cent of the power surplus to be shared equally between Germany and Norway, which can store it in hydropower systems for later usage. Norway and Sweden have seasonal storage hydro systems with the reservoir dropping to its minimum around week 16, at 20-50 per cent.

During this time, wind energy from Denmark proves a boon. Transmission lines can handle electricity exports of 1500 MW and imports of 950 MW. Hydropower from Norway and Sweden supplement electricity during periods of low wind in Denmark. Moreover, excess wind energy in Denmark, is also stored as heat energy in hot water tanks in buildings to reduce CO2 emissions.

Global practices

The Indian experience

International initiatives in wind power particularly off-shore wind power can serve as a crucial learning lesson.

German manufacturing and electronics conglomerate Siemens is the turbine manufacturer for the world’s largest wind farm-The London Array. London Array, located about 20 Km off the Kent and Essex coast, is the world’s largest

Coming to the Indian perspective, onshore wind farms have created close to 500 jobs and increasing. As per Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) 2015 estimates, LBWTP and OSWTP can potentially reduce CO2 emissions by 203 million tonnes if both technologies are upgraded and sustained.

At the global and national level, wind

A village in Tamil Nadu has shown a way of benefiting from net metering. This village Odanthurai, invested 1.5 Cr in buying a 350 kW windmill.

Out of the total 6.75 lakh unit generated, the village uses 4.75 lakh units and sells the remaining 2 lakh to the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board, earning 20 lakh every year power particularly OSWTP faces certain hindrances. Firstly, grid reliability is a major issue. Transporting power from energy rich areas to industrial corridors is a major task. Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) report ‘State of Renewable Energy In India’ found that due to calculation errors in factoring in appropriate wind speed and insufficient installation area of 765 kV transmission towers, TN electricity Board (TNEB) wasn’t successful in providing LBWTP from the sub-station to the consumer.

Nevertheless, a village in TN has shown a way of benefiting from net metering.

This village Odanthurai,invested 1.5 Cr in buying a 350 kW windmill. Out of the total 6.75 lakh unit generated, the village uses 4.75 lakh units and sells the remaining 2 lakh to the TNEB earning 20 lakh every year.

Environmental risks associated with wind power also pose a problem.

OSWTP can affect movement of incoming bats and birds as well as marine ecology when they come in the vicinity of the wind turbine.

Closer home, the ‘Nallakonda Wind Farm’ led to the destruction of 2833 hectares of forest land at Kalpavalli in Anantpur, Andhra Pradesh. MNRE and other ministries need to engage in ‘Environment zoning’ so that only non-ecological barren land is used for setting up of wind farms. Despite all these, wind power carries a lot of promise and can solve India’s energy crisis if put to optimal use. Political will and innovation are necessities towards an energy rich India.

www.urbanupdate.in | February 2017

41

one on one | N Manjushree, CEO, BUZP

“We try to engage all stakeholders in city planning�

N Manjushree, CEO, Bengaluru Urban Zilla Panchayat, speaks to Kumar Dhananjay, Consulting Editor, Urban Update, on tackling solid waste problem, reviving water bodies and other problems in Bengaluru city.

She reiterates technology would play a significant role in improving access to better urban civic services

Kumar Dhananjay Consulting Editor, Urban Update kd.urbanupdate@gmail.com

42 February 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

How important do you see the role of local bodies in running a city like Bengaluru and what has been your personal experience?

It is through the local self-governments that the local problems are considered and solved effectively and appropriately.

Since the members of the local selfgovernment are locals themselves, they can realize and understand the gravity of local problems more seriously than the administrators of the State or Central government and can address them adequately.

In local self-government, the members have close and intimate contact with the local people. Naturally, it remains rather transparent and acts with real social welfare motive.

My experience says

that to implement economic planning at local and regional levels the local self-government institutions are far more helpful than the State or Central government. It also inspires the local people to actively participate in various governmental activities.

You are responsible for both urban and rural areas in Bengaluru. How do you strike a balance because concerns are different in two areas of your field of work?

Areas under Bengaluru urban district are partially rural. It is a fast urbanizing district. Areas of concern in both urban and rural are generally the same like water, health,

education in addition to sanitation, cleanliness and infrastructure demands like roads, etc. but of late the concerns in urbanised areas are more and more towards better service delivery, responsive governance, solid and liquid waste management.We try to strike a balance by bringing in innovation and convenience in dealing with Govt agencies. Innovations like Sakala (timely service delivery) and Jan Snehi Kendras (over the counter delivery of services) for the urbanised areas.

Prominent citizens of the city have called Bengaluru once a city of gardens, now a city of garbage. How are you dealing with this problem?

Bengaluru still has the largest lung space in the form of parks. There is hardly any locality in the city without its own park meant for the recreational activities of its residents. I do understand that solid waste management is a great concern on our hands. We have many localized waste collection units managing the waste of that local body. At-source segregation and door-to-door collection is practiced. We are also looking at localized waste to energy plants to be run on a PPP mode.

Also the waste management is important as it leading to the death of rivers. A city that once upon a time had more than 200 water bodies is now struggling for water?

Bengaluru has 3 rivers flowing through it and once had over 200 tanks. Efforts are on by the water and sewerage board of Bengaluru to ensure black water is not drained into the rivers. As for the tanks, many of them though not serving drinking water needs, efforts are on to give them an overall facelift to serve as recreational hotspots for the residents. Large-scale efforts are also in place to remove encroachments on the tank beds of the district.

To mitigate the scarcity of water, water conservation, rainwater harvesting is being promoted. BWSSB is also making efforts to treat sewerage water and the same water is going to be filled in the tanks to ensure ground water recharge.

Equally important is rampant illegal construction. First the civic bodies allow this to happen and then go for demolition drive. We saw it happening few months back in Bengaluru.

Obviously it happens because of nexus between officials and builders but at the end people suffer. How do you think this can be stopped?

Unfortunately the prevalent policy is that of buyers beware. The Department of Survey has placed on public platform (their website) the information of government land like tanks, etc., which are generally encroached and illegally developed. The buyers need to be a little more cautious and should exercise great vigilance before purchasing a property.

But history has proven that the civic bodies wake up after illegal construction only because the bodies need to discharge regulatory work in addition to their work of providing basic services. In my opinion greater awareness and transparency in the records of the land, making them available to the public easily and a separate body to regulate such illegal activity is the only way to end suffering of the people.

The City should be for the people.

So how often do you interact with the citizens while taking and implementing any particular decision?

We have a system of ward and gram sabhas where the elected representatives and officers of the local body interact twice in a year with all the participating citizens.

Planning is key to the development of a city. In that context how have you been able to rope in different stakeholders while formulating policies to get the desired results?

I am in the development sector. We have a separate entity called urban and city-planning department to formulate policies of development. All stakeholders like the planning, urban development, BWSSB, BESCOM are members in various committees that plan the development of urban areas.

Bengaluru has 3 rivers flowing through it and once had over 200 tanks. Efforts are on by the water and sewerage board of Bengaluru to ensure black water is not drained into the rivers. As for the tanks, many of them though not serving drinking water needs, efforts are on to give them an overall facelift to serve as recreational hotspots for the residents. Largescale efforts are also in place to remove encroachments on the tank beds of the district

Technology is a key component these days. Be it waste management, traffic, sanitation etc. How have you used technology to make things better? Also the big question is: are local bodies equipped and trained to handle the technology.

Bengaluru being the IT capital of India, it is hard to stay untouched by technology. Various apps are in use to capture progress, update information and monitoring of various schemes.

Every department has its own apps or ITeS for better functioning. Like the traffic management centre in Bangalore for transport management. GSK app for information relating to civil works taken up, their progress and bill payment status. Citizen services like Jan Snehi Kendras (CSC’s) and online payment of taxes like e-pavathi. Our officers have been using technology for many years now; they are equipped with smart phones. Also training is given at regular intervals.

Local governance is an important factor in the development of the city.

What is the main focus area at the moment in Bengaluru and steps that you have taken to address it?

Solid and liquid waste management is the area of concern. Efforts are as explained above.

www.urbanupdate.in | February 2017

43

BOOK REVIEW | GOOD READS

A wonderful insight into Madras Abhilash Khandekar National Political Editor Dainik Bhaskar

V

isited the recent World Book Fair in Delhi with a resolve not to buy a book.

Idea was to have the feel of books around, see their new designs and subjects, smell freshly printed volumes, watch the joy on the faces of proud young book buyers and so on. The reason for the resolve was that many of the books which I had picked up in the last year’s fair, had not been completed by me even once, let alone do the second round of reading.

But this little book was instrumental in breaking my resolve the first, among many others later. ‘Madras’ drew my instant attention from the heap of some competing wonderful titles simply because I have not been to this city more than once and always wanted to read more about it. Then Jallikattu was also weighing on my mind. Another reason was that having introduced two books on Bengaluru and Delhi to readers of Urban Update in earlier issues, temptation to pick up another city-centric book was too much to resist. Both the earlier books were completely different in their content and style while still telling a lot about the respective cities of Bengaluru and New Delhi. ‘Madras’ is more of a literary fare and engages its readers, through small chapters, in a very absorbing manner. But it’s not fiction; the stories the author tells you, give a complete idea of the city’s past and present. It is a positive book and does not really bother you with typical urban issues of traffic snarls, water scarcity, encroachments and growing vehicular population. In a way, a slight relief!

Of late, newer and newer authors like him are writing about cities in a very gripping manner and with refreshing styles. They don’t just pen

44 February 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

dry history and tell you about the geography of a city but introduce the city’s varied cultural, social, culinary, environmental and educational aspects. Tulsi Badrinath, a novelist, is among them. He has written this book as if he is talking to you while taking you along the avenues and streets of the Tamil Nadu Capital that has the Bay of Bengal as its immediate neighbour.

Madras which became Chennai officially in 1996 has always been known for its traditions, religion, culture and love for cricket. Remember the historic Chepauk stadium which hosted so many Test matches and Ranji games? Well, the city celebrated its 375th birthday in 2014, 10 years after it was hit by the worst tsunami. Yet, The New York Times included the city in its list of 52 places to visit in 2014 and Lonely Planet listed it as one of ten best cities to visit in 2015. Many consider it as India’s first modern city which is close to 400 years old with well written records available.

If Chennai is known as the ‘Detroit of India’, thanks to the dominant presence of auto giants like Hyundai, Caterpillar

or Ford, it is also known as a major centre for Bharatanatyam, the classical Indian dance form. In between the two, this coastal city offers many other things to its citizens, most of whom love it madly.

Just before India achieved its independence there were three major presidencies in the country run by the Britishers. Madras was one of them.

Bombay and Calcutta being the two other. Madras had a head start of almost fifty years over Calcutta in terms of its pre-eminence in East India Company’s affairs. Gradually Calcutta became the centre of its expanding ambitions in the Indian subcontinent and in 1772, Calcutta became the capital of British India and Madras was left to grow at its own pace. After Independence, various parts of Madras Presidency were allocated to other states and Madras became the capital of the new state of Tamil Nadu.

As per the author, Madras and Chennai came into existence almost simultaneously in 1639, as two contiguous areas. While Madras went on to lend its name to the

larger southern peninsula or Madras Presidency, it also absorbed Chennai into its fold as it grew. Debate over the origins of the words Madras and Chennai continues even today. Modern people call it Chennai and those more traditional refer to it as Madras-both are twin names of the same settlement which was first discovered by Britishers. When Francis Day stepped on a sandy strip of land on Coromandel Coast nearly four centuries ago, it was not only an exploratory step on behalf of a trading company but a giant stride into the future of imperial Britain.

Author Badrinath intermittently gives accounts of changing facade of the city with beautiful large twostoreyed bungalows of the rich, giving way to malls and shopping arcades and gardens slowly disappearing. He also rues rather lightly, the shutting down of some libraries and book shops in the old city.

Madras has had the unique influence of the British, the Portuguese and the French. San Thome, a big area of Madras near river Adyar was under the Portuguese but by 1662 it was in the possession of the Sultan of Golconda and then under British control in 1749, but not before they fought the French.

While talking to some of the prominent people of the city, author

Book Madras, Chennai and the Self--Conversations with the city!

Author Tulsi Badrinath Publisher Pan Macmillan India Pages 230 Price 299

Good

Reads

Rating Buy the book for personal library

Badrinath creates a layered image of Chennai by sifting through her memories, and by narrating the stories of those who call it home-the current Prince of Arcot, Dalit writer & activist P Sivakami, superstar Vikram and Karate expert K Seshadri, among others.

The book also takes the reader through the fine beaches along the Bay of Bengal, Fort St George, a variety of trees of the city, mainly coconut, jasmine stalls, cricket fever, classical music and dance, as also a peep into political movements.

There is a mention of how the great Pandit Ravi Shankar played past midnight in 1960, to the capacity crowd at the Music Academy “in staid old Madras where everyone went to bed by 9 pm”. Weaving stories with the help of local prominent people, the author has helped paint a beautiful picture of this quaint city, with its old architecture, beautiful churches all of which to the north and central India may not make much but it means a lot to the entire long stretch of south India having five important states. Carnatic music and cricket are passions of the city, says the author and talks about the 164-year

old Madras Cricket Club which later became Madras United Club.

The book talks of films stars and politicians from MG Ramchandran, Karunanidhi and Jayalalitha (who passed away in December) and Khushboo, Rajanikanth and Kamal Haasan only to provide you different facets of the city, just like Mumbai which can’t be complete without the Bollywood stars.

Indeed, after the death of Jayalalitha Tamil politics drew the attention of entire India as also after several days’ protests over the bull taming game’s ban by the Supreme Court, Madras was the focal centre for all.

Reading this book gives you a real different feeling about the massive metropolis, its rich cultural tradition and so on. For those who have been to the city or read about it, this book reintroduces Madras and Chennai in a very friendly manner and for those who want to know about the city, it provides some answers and leaves a lot to be experienced through a sojourn in Madras. I mean upon reading this tiny book, sans any photos, you would think of a visit to Chennai.

www.urbanupdate.in | February 2017

45

URBAN AGENDA | Financing Energy Sector

Who will finance clean energy?

The clean energy sector in India requires a huge investment of almost USD 160 billion in the next six years if the nation wants to accomplish the target as desired

R

enewable energy is emerging as the mainstream source of energy globally; it does not remain merely an alternative source of energy. Last couple of years have been excellent for renewable energy sector globally. We witnessed many developments that have a bearing on clean energy, including a decline in global fossil fuel prices, significant power capacity addition, and a historic climate agreement in Paris that brought together the global community to focus on generating more power through renewable sources. These include commitments made by countries while adopting Sustainable Development Goals and Habitat III to accelerate access to renewable energy and to advance energy efficiency. The SDG-7 talks about ensuring Sustainable Energy for All by 2030.

With its commitment to generate 175GW energy from renewable sources, India has emerged one of the countries that will invest hugely in renewable energy. Apart from nonavailability of advanced technological tools, ensuring availability of adequate funds for executing the RE projects could be a matter of concern for the government.

As per the National Electricity Plan-2016, the total fund requirement is estimated to be Rs 10,33,375 cr. This expenditure includes expenditure requirement for the renewable capacity addition during the period 20172022, as well as the expenditure done during this period for the projects coming up during the years 2022-27. The fund requirements have been assessed based on assumptions of cost per MW for various types of generation projects, based on present day costs and yearwise phasing of expenditure in accordance with the normal scenario.

Installation of renewable energy project

46 February 2017 | www.urbanupdate.in

is capital intensive and pay backs from such projects could be slow. To attract investment and give a push to the renewable power generation in the country, the Government has allowed 100 per FDI in infrastructure sectors, which includes power. Benefits under the Income Tax Act which allows tax exemption for 10 years is another incentive for infrastructure companies. To promote solar power generation, the importation of solar modules is duty free.

According to the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy, the country attracted Rs 90,841 cr (around $14 billion) over the last 3 financial years (FY 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16) in renewable energy investments.

It is also reported that the government provided financial incentives worth Rs 6,541 cr (around $1 billion) during the same period. This financial support includes capital cost support for setting up projects, as well as generation-based incentives for power generation.

To support the energy sector and achieve target without facing any financial difficulty, the government through the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd (IREDA) help desks in different Indian cities will help investors to get over operational difficulties in setting up renewable energy projects in the country. According to the Minister of Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal, “I see in the next 5-6 years a $250 billion opportunity in the energy sector and by 2030, when we are planning to expand renewable energy also very significantly, I see a trillion dollar investment opportunity in India.� If India has to attract such a huge investment, the policy regime of distribution companies, co-ordination with state governments and other involved agencies, and infrastructure requirements must be taken care of.

Ashok Wankhade Managing Editor bhau1008@gmail.com

All India Institute of Local Self-Government AIILSG conducts Online Assessment Testing and Training Programmes. * Online centres are equipped with state-of-the-art AC Labs with requisite support infrastructure facilities to conduct Online Programmes. * Centres are CAT certified Testing Centres and presently conducting many prestigious Online Programmes with reputed clients like Prometric, MeritTrac, TCS, SIFY, IIBF, JNU, Satvat Infosol Pvt Ltd, Manipal University, Staff Selection Commission (SSC) and others. * Regional Centres - Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Delhi and Trivandrum are presently having facility for Online Testing Programme.

A I I L SG ON L I N E CE N T RE S

For specific requirement, please contact AIILSG HO Mumbai | E-mail: onlinemumbai@aiilsg.org | Phone: 022-26571713/14/15 Delhi Centre | E-mail: delhi@aiilsg.org | Phone: 011 - 2852 1783/ 5473

All India Institute of Local Self-Government (AIILSG) whole heartedly supports Swachh Bharat Mission and is committed to play a proactive role to realise its objectives.

The institute is organising regular orientation workshops on SBM to augment the capacity of ULBs and also generating public awareness on cleanliness

Supported By