more-in A few public buildings in the city would soon start generating power and feeding it to the grid of the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB). Cochin Smart Mission Limited (CSML) has entered into a pact with public sector major Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) for installing roof-top solar panels on as many as 30 public buildings within the Kochi Corporation limits. The roof-top space of the government-owned buildings in the city, including colleges, schools and hospitals, will be utilised for the project. The project aims to generate 1,000 kWp power a day from the panels. The power generated will be supplied to the KSEB. BHEL is in the process of surveying the city for identifying suitable buildings for the project, said an official of CSML. The project with an outlay of ?5.7 crore is expected to be completed within six months, the official said. Though Kochi was ranked as the 5th city in the first round of the selection of cities for the project, there was criticism that the city could not make significant progress in implementation of such projects. The progress of the project was also reviewed at a meeting convened by A.C. Moideen, Minister for Local Self-Governments. CSML authorities said a large number of projects were tendered and a few others were in the implementation stage. Of the ?490-crore allocation of the Central government for the Kochi project, ?196 crore has reached the Mission. While the Kerala government contributed ?200 crore, the local body has chipped in with ?5.73 crore. The Mission has now ?401.73 crore in its kitty. Projects worth ?616 crore have been tendered. A Kochi One smart card project was launched by Kochi Metro Rail Limited under the Pan City projects. The card can be used for transit and retail payments, according to Mission authorities.

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