Indore forced to drop solar plants from VCS programme

12 Sep 2022 CW Team

Indore Smart City Development Ltd (ISCDL) would no longer be able to earn carbon credits through solar power plant projects under the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) programme, as solar projects have been excluded from registration under the programme on grounds that they become self-sustaining over a period of time.

This has obliged ISCDL officials to drop their plan of registering solar power plants operating in the city under VCS programme - a global programme and standard for certification and registration of projects that focus on reduction and removal of greenhouse emission gasses, including carbon dioxide.

Officials said that solar power projects cannot be listed under the VCS programme. “People can start generating profit out of a solar power plant after a certain period of time by selling electricity produced through the plant and this makes the project ‘self-sustainable’. This is why it has been excluded by the VCS Board from the list of projects that can be registered,” an official said.

ISCDL chief executive officer Rishav Gupta said that they had already registered several of the solar power plants under the programme way before this change was introduced, and it will continue to help them generate revenue.

“We have already registered around 10 projects under the programme and generated Rs 90 million so far,” said Gupta, while adding that efforts to identify other projects that can be listed under the programme are on.

There are around 3,700 solar power plants, including individual ones, operational in Indore.

Infrastructure Transport

12 Dec 2025

Railways Boosts Cyber Security And Fairness In Ticket Bookings

Indian Railways has said its reservation ticketing system is a robust and highly secure IT platform equipped with state-of-the-art cyber security measures. The national transporter has introduced several initiatives to enhance system performance and improve access to regular and tatkal tickets. A key step has been the large-scale revalidation and verification of user accounts. Since January 2025, around 30.2 million suspicious user IDs have been deactivated. Anti-bot tools such as Akamai have been deployed to filter non-genuine users, ensuring smoother booking for legitimate passengers. To c..

Indian Railways Speeds Up Green Transition With Wider Electrification

Indian Railways is accelerating its modernisation drive by upgrading infrastructure and rolling stock with advanced technologies aimed at enhancing safety, punctuality, reliability and passenger comfort. A major focus of this effort is the transition to cleaner traction systems, with a significant reduction in the use of coal-based and diesel engines. Electrification has been taken up in mission mode. As of now, 99.2 per cent of the Broad Gauge (BG) network has been electrified, with the remaining routes under execution. During 2014–25, Railways electrified 46,900 route kilometres, compared..

Centre Strengthens Cybersecurity Framework Across India’s Power Sector

The POWERGRID Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Cybersecurity has been established at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru to advance research and development in cybersecurity for power grid operations and transmission systems. The initiative is part of India’s broader effort to build a resilient and secure power ecosystem. To strengthen cyber readiness across the sector, the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) issued the Cyber Security in Power Sector Guidelines, 2021, creating a comprehensive cyber assurance framework and governance structure for all power entities. Further, the ..