Even as Chhattisgarh was included in the Centre’s mega pipeline project for the supply of piped natural gas (PNG) in January this year, the State would have to now buck up to get speedy approvals for laying City Gas Distribution(CGD) pipelines in the cities selected for Smart Cities Mission.
Notably, the Union Ministry of Urban Development has asked the States and Urban local Bodies (UlBs) to provide for Piped Natural Gas (PNG) supply and CNG stations in the cities selected for development as Smart Cities.
It may be mentioned that Raipur and Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh have been selected for the Centre’s mega ‘Smart Cities’ Mission.
It was for the first time in January this year that the State was included in the massive gas grid already operational in several States of the country.
Meanwhile, Union Ministry of Urban Development has also asked States, whose cities have been selected for the Smart City mission, to ensure convergence of various schemes of the Central Government aimed at enhancing energy supply and related infrastructure in the Smart City Plans under preparation.
This was conveyed to States and UlBs at a ‘Smart City Proposal Enhancement Workshop’ organized by the Ministry of Urban Development in New Delhi on Sunday last.
Dr Sameer Sharma, Additional Secretary (Urban Development) and Mission Director, Smart City Mission had informed the States and UlBs that Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a recent meeting of the NITI Ayog desired PNG supply and convergence of energy related and Digital India related schemes in Smart Cities under preperation.
He had made it clear to States and Urban local Bodies that all claims regarding initiatives so far taken and proposed to be taken for smart city development, should be substantiated by necessary evidence and the deadline for submission of Smart City Plans, that is December 15, will not be extended.
Ashutosh Jindal, Joint Secretary (Petroleum and Natural Gas), in his presentation, said that supply of gas is not a constraint for enabling PNG supply in Smart Cities and urged the urban local bodies to ensure speedy approvals for laying City Gas Distribution(CGD) Pipelines in smart cities.
He informed that currently, 30 lakh PNG connections have been provided in 67 cities including 35 smart cities and the remaining smart cities need to be covered.
Informing that about 25 lakh vehicles are now running on CNG, Jindal urged groundwork for CNG stations in smart city plan.
AKVerma, Union Joint Secretary (Power) urged the States and UlBs of smart cities to take advantage of Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) meant for strengthening Sub-transmission and distribution networks, metering of distribution transformers and feeders, IT enablement of distribution sector, IT enabled energy accounting and auditing in urban areas. he suggested installation of SCADA(Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) systems in smart cities for effective monitoring of power supply and use.
Tarun Kapoor, Joint Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy urged Smart Cities to include Roof Top based solar power generation in the measures to ensure that 10 per cent of energy demand is met from solar power.
He asserted that the cost of solar power comes to `7.59 per unit and with subsidy being provided by the Ministry, it comes down to `.5.50 per unit, as against the rate of around `8 to `10 per unit being paid by most of the industrial and Government establishments.
He stated that there is a potential for generation of 40,000 MW of Roof top based solar power specially in urban areas.
Kapoor stressed on green construction technologies which can save energy by over 30 per cent and asked the cities to send proposals for their inclusion in the Solar City Development scheme of the Ministry.