Authorities with the Jharkhand Renewable Energy Development Agency (JREDA) said on Thursday that solar energy will soon power five airports in Jharkhand, including the Birsa Munda Airport in Ranchi. The tender for this project has already been issued. K K Verma, the director of JREDA, informed that after the project is completed, each of the airports outfitted with solar panels will create 600 KW of power per day. Another JREDA official claimed that the solar energy produced at these airports will not only power the airports themselves, but also some of the nearby residential colonies. Under the project, airports at Dumka, Deoghar, Bokaro, Giridih, and others would be covered. As many as three of the remaining four airports in Jharkhand are expected to begin operations within a year after Birsa Munda Airport. JREDA officials told the media that the government has set up Rs 20 crore for the project, with a six-month deadline. An official at Ranchi airport told the media that in Jharkhand, most airports were still under construction, and adopting eco-friendly modifications at this point would pay off in the long term. There are also plans to expand the Birsa Munda Airport, where the usage of renewable energy will be a boon, according to an airport official. As part of its approval of the Ranchi airport expansion plan, the state government signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for a 330-acre project. Around 20 flights a week fly from Ranchi to Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Pune, among others. To ensure eco-friendly growth, many airports in different areas of India have been using solar energy for the past couple of years already. Airport Authority of India's (AAI) Puducherry Airport in Tamil Nadu became the country's first solar-powered airport when it opened in 2020. According to public-private collaboration, Cochin International Airport in Kerala is also the world's first solar-powered airport. Image Source Also read: Biju Patnaik Airport revamp: Airport to get facelift within one year