Latest news with #SmartVillage
The Hindu
13-06-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Community Resource Efficiency Hub in Kerala's Ernakulam to support 25 women-led coastal enterprises build climate-resilient business models
A Community Resource Efficiency (CRE) hub in North Paravur will be commissioned next week to help 25 women MSME units operating along the coastal panchayats of Ernakulam district in Kerala build a sustainable business model with built-in climate resilience. The initiative, the first in Kerala to be funded by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) under its Smart Village project, will be executed with the support of Equinoct, a Kochi-based community-sourced modelling solution provider, and with the active collaboration with the not-for-profit organisations, the Resilient Destinations Foundation and Puthenvelikkara-based Community Resource Centre, a people's initiative for creating a sustainable community. A five-tonne capacity deep freezer, a 2-tonne capacity dryer, and two electric autorickshaws, all powered by solar energy, have been installed at the hub to help scale up enterprises, which are mostly into producing fish, agriculture, and dairy products. Converting them from enterprises without any definite model into sustainable ones run on green energy technologies remains at the heart of the project. 'The hub proposes to help these enterprises develop into professionally run businesses complete with a digital platform to leverage the scope of e-commerce to increase their market exposure. The entrepreneurs will be trained on maintaining accounts, tapping the benefits of bulk purchases, better branding and marketing of their products, etc. The goal is to enhance their livelihood capacity through a climate-resilient business model,' said C. Jayaraman, managing director of Equinoct. Plans are also afoot to help evolve a green label for these products by highlighting how green energy technologies are deployed in their production and distribution, thus enhancing their market potential. The hub will also mediate to help the enterprises avail of short-term loans at low interest rates through tie-ups with various agencies, said K.G. Sreeja, project director. Equinoct will serve as a technology partner of the hub to implement the project with the support of IEEE Smart Village. The hub, complete with its assets, will have to be handed over to a community-run non-profit organisation within a year. It could be an organisation made collectively of the 25 benefitting enterprises or a consortium of enterprises, the Resilient Destinations Foundation and CRC Puthenvelikkara, though it is yet to be finalised. 'There is an even bigger goal of developing it into a climate resilience hub which can help communities to build resilience to climate risks in the coastal region in the long run, provided there are enabling circumstances, institutional collaborations and government support, including funding,' said Mr. Jayaraman.
The Hindu
05-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
MLA emphasises govt.'s commitment to green development
Srikalahasti MLA Bojjala Sudheer Reddy on Thursday said that the State government's is committed to ensure development with minimal carbon foot print. At a programme organised by the Tirupati Urban Development Authority (TUDA) commemorating World Environment Day at Renigunta, The MLA underscored the importance of collective responsibility in safeguarding the environment. 'The World Environment Day is not just symbolic, but a call for action to individuals, communities and governments to take sustainable steps for the future.' Mr. Reddy also highlighted the various green initiatives taken up by the TDP-led government under the leadership of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu. He recalled the significance of the NTR Green Vision project, which aimed to increase forest cover across Andhra Pradesh through large-scale tree plantations involving public participation, particularly students. Further, the MLA noted that the TDP government, during its earlier stint in 2014-19, had made Andhra Pradesh a frontrunner in renewable energy by establishing massive solar and wind power projects, especially in districts like Anantapur and Kurnool, and set ambitious targets to generate over 10,000 megawatts of clean energy. Waste-to-energy projects were also launched through a government order in 2017, to manage municipal waste scientifically and sustainably. The event was marked by the participation of several dignitaries including TUDA Chairman Dollars Divakar Reddy, Andhra Pradesh Greening and Beautification Corporation Chairperson Mannuru Sugunamma and Tirupati Municipal Corporation Commissioner N. Mourya. Mr. Divakar Reddy and others hailed the Smart Village – Smart Ward programme, another key initiative under TDP, as having aimed at making local communities cleaner and greener by promoting solid waste management, solar-powered infrastructure, and drinking water safety. The leaders planted saplings and took a pledge to protect the environment.
