Diu Smart City has become the first city in India that runs on 100 per cent renewable energy during daytime, setting a new benchmark for other cities to become clean and green. Diu had been importing 73 per cent of its power from Gujarat until last year. It has now adopted a two-pronged approach whereby a 9 MW solar park spread over 50 hectares rocky barren land has been developed besides installing solar panels on the roof tops on 79 government buildings, thereby generating 1.3 MW annually.
To further enhance its solar capacity, Diu offers its residents a subsidy of Rs 10,000-50,000 for installing 1-5KW roof top solar panels. Diu is saving about 13,000 tonnes of carbon emissions every year. Due to low-cost solar energy, power tariffs have been cut in residential category by 10 per cent last year and 15 per cent this year.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh recently laid foundation for several development projects in Diu. Singh has said that the Union Territory of Diu is on the way to soon emerge among the league of Smart Cities. Addressing a function after inaugurating and laying foundation of various development projects in Diu, Singh said the Union Territory was selected for the Smart Cities Project during the final phase of bidding and is today on the verge of realising this dream. A total of Rs 1,400 crore would be spent under this project, of which Rs 701 crores would be the contribution of government.
Some of the important projects to be undertaken under the scheme are:
- Construction of a continuous coastal promenade connecting Ghogla-Jalandhar-Chadrika Mata beach – upto Chakratirth beach
- Development of an all-inclusive mobile app for the convenience of tourists for online room reservation, ticket booking, parking etc
- Establishment of an Integrated Command and Control Centre for strengthening security and improving traffic management in Diu
- Setting up of Skill Incubation Centre for the fisher-folk
- Sea plane service between Daman and Diu to improve connectivity
Some other projects would be taken up under PPP mode and/or through other government schemes under the Smart Cities programme.
