Cochin doing Surya Namaskar!

For more than a year now, I’ve been travelling by train to my native on a weekly basis and been crossing the vast expanse of land adjoining the Cochin International Airport. Initially, when I saw people at work and panels, I thought it was some airport extension business but now I know that Cochin was prepping to mark its place in the world history, technically.

When stray dogs and their ‘rights’ or freedom to kiss in public or a celebrity’s wedding can take up so much attention and writing space, I thought this definitely deserved a little more attention than just a headline - “India’s Cochin is the World’s First Solar-Powered Airport”.

If humanity is to survive, it's going to have to embrace alternative forms of energy and ditch carbon at a real fast pace. India's making a pretty big stride in that direction after declaring Cochin International Airport as the world's first facility of its kind that runs entirely on solar power.

So I am just putting together some facts that I have read over the week about this milestone for everyone who left it at the headline with a smile.

• Cochin is the seventh busiest airport in India by passenger load, ferrying almost 7 million people in the past year. It was the first airport in India to be constructed in public-private-partnership (PPP) model in 1999. It is the only PPP airport in the country.

• All of the airport's energy requirements are met - thanks to a roof-mounted installation on the terminal, as well as a solar plant beside the cargo warehouse.

• 46,150 panels that spread across 45 acres and generates 12MW -- with any excess power being pushed back into the local grid. The plant was installed by the Kolkata-based Vikram Solar Pvt. Ltd. The project was executed by Bosch Ltd at a cost of Rs.62 crore in about six months.

• This green power project will not result in any carbon dioxide emissions over the next 25 years. It will produce clean source of energy equivalent to non-clean energy produced from coal fired power plants by burning more than 3 lakh metric tonnes of Coals. This plant is also equivalent to planting 30 lakh trees.

India has much to be proud of. Last year, it became the first to reach Mars on its initial attempt. It boasts a thriving pharmaceutical industry that produces low-cost medications that are desperately needed by the developing world. And in his first year in office, Modi launched an ambitious plan to make India a leader in solar power and CIAL has paved way to get inspired.