2026 Reports

Integrating renewable energy – Case of Rajkot city, India

Patel, Shaurya; Pathak, Minal; Amin, Drashti

Rajkot, the fourth-largest city in Gujarat, India, has implemented a portfolio of renewable energy and energy-efficiency measures in response to rising emissions from rapid urban growth. After committing to cut CO₂ emissions by 14% from 2015–16 levels by 2023, the Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) launched India's first Smart-City-integrated District Cooling System, mandated solar rooftop installation on all new buildings, installed solar PV at municipal water treatment plants, and retrofitted 63,178 streetlights with LEDs. With technical and financial support from UNEP, ICLEI, and the Urban LEDS programme, the city has installed 9.6 MWh of grid-connected residential solar rooftops and cut GHG emissions by approximately 14,000 tonnes. Many of these initiatives still operate as independent projects rather than being embedded in statutory planning, which has limited their ability to scale. Rajkot shows how aligning local action with state and national policy, combined with partnerships with non-state actors, can build the institutional capacity local governments need to pursue climate-resilient development.

Keywords: Urban infrastructure, climate change mitigation, district cooling, solar rooftop