Vice President Venkaiah Naidu calls upon large institutions to adopt sustainable energy practices

Puducherry: Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu yesterday called upon large institutions and government organisations to adopt sustainable energy practices in their operations. He also Suggested making rooftop solar plants and rainwater harvesting mandatory in large buildings. He said these after he dedicated the 15 MW Rooftop Solar Power Plant erected in Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research JIPMER, Puducherry yesterday.

Naidu also stressed the importance of ventilation and air circulation in buildings. Sunlight is a natural disinfectant. Our ancestors understood this – it reflected in their planning and construction of houses, he said.

He underscored the need to create living and working spaces with ample ventilation and natural light in order to maintain good health.

The plant has been set up using at a total cost of Rs.7.67 Crore. Rooftops of 15



hospital and hostel buildings in JIPMER Puducherry campus have been utilized for setting up the plant in a distributed manner. The total installed capacity is around 15 Mega Watts. The plant produces 15% of the electricity demand of JIPMER and will save one crore seventy lakh rupees in electricity bills every year as per the prevailing power tariff, allowing recovery of the entire cost in 4-5 years.

Lt. Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan, Chief Minister of Puducherry, N. Rangasamy, and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.

The Vice President is on a two day visit to Puducherry. He was received by the Lt. Governor Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan, Chief Minister Mr. N. Rangasamy and his ministers at the airport. Mr. M. Venkaiah Naidu visited the Mahakavi Bharathiyar Memorial Centre in Puducherry and paid floral tributes to the great poet, Subramania Bharati.