State, Centre to drive Panaji climate action, circular economy

Panaji: In a significant step towards urban sustainability and climate resilience, Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Ltd (IPSCDL) signed key agreements under the CITIIS (city investments to innovate, integrate and sustain) 2.0 programme at the Rajasthan International Centre, Jaipur.
A tripartite agreement for climate action was signed between the Union ministry for housing and urban affairs (MoHUA), Goa’s urban development department, and the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA). As part of this agreement, the three bodies will collaborate to drive state-led climate action, supporting Panaji’s commitment to sustainability.
The second agreement is a quadrilateral agreement for circular economy initiatives, which will see the MoHUA, the department of urban development, the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP), and Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Limited (IPSCDL) working together to implement integrated waste management solutions for the state capital.
IPSCDL managing director and chief executive officer Sanjit Rodrigues said a notional grant was allocated for the projects, with the final grant approval linked to performance-based assessments.
The agreements were signed in the presence of the minister for MoHUA, Manohar Lal Khattar. Director for urban development Brijesh Manerkar and CCP commissioner Clen Madeira were also present. The agreements were formalised during the 12th regional 3R and circular economy forum, attended by over 500 global experts, city mayors, and researchers.
The CITIIS 2.0 challenge was conceived by MoHUA in partnership with the funding partners French Development Agency (AFD), Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau (KfW), and the European Union (EU). CITIIS offers financial and technical assistance to 18 cities that emerged out of the 100 that participated in the competitive rounds. Panaji received funding of Rs 89.3 crore for a circular economy project and Rs 5 crore for urban development.

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