In recognition of notable achievement in off-grid and decentralized solar applications, the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy awarded Swaminarayan Akshardham, New Delhi, the CST & Solar Cooker Excellence award on 29th April 2016.
Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy felicitated the awardees. Speaking on the occasion, Minister Goyal said, “India now will lead the world towards clean energy rather than follow.” The function was also attended by Shri Upendra Tripathy, Secretary, MNRE, Mr Jaco Cilliers, Country Director, UNDP, Ms Ayumi Fujino, UNIDO Representative & Regional Director and senior officers of the Ministry.
A 'Solar Concentrator' has been installed at Swaminarayan Akshardham, New Delhi since 2012. The installation is a large Solar Parabolic Dish which has the capacity to save about 30 to 50 standard cubic meters of natural gas per day and can cater to the cooking energy needs of upto 4,000 people.
BAPS is active in encouraging non-conventional sources of energy as a part of its environmental initiatives, which include harnessing solar power, tree plantation campaigns and water conservation efforts.