CapaCITIES Programme
Why in News?
The CapaCITIES Programme is in the news because a high-level national conclave titled "Scaling Urban Climate Resilience: The CapaCITIES Legacy and Way Forward" was held on July 14, 2026, at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, marking a 10-year milestone (2016–2026) of the project.
Basic Overview & Objective
- Full Name: Capacity Building Project on Low Carbon and Climate Resilient City Development in India.
- Launch Year: The initiative originally rolled out in 2016.
- Core Goal: It aims to strengthen the institutional capacity of Indian cities to integrate low-carbon planning into daily governance.
- Net-Zero Alignment: It directly supports India's national goal of reaching Net-Zero emissions by 2070.
- Funding Source: Fully funded by the Embassy of Switzerland to India and Bhutan.
- Implementing Consortium: Executed collaboratively by ICLEI South Asia, South Pole, and econcept.
- Knowledge Partner: Governed in close coordination with the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA).
Key Features & Geographic Reach
- Target Cities: Focused primary support on 8 distinct cities: Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Vadodara, Udaipur, Siliguri, Coimbatore, Tiruchirappalli, and Tirunelveli.
- State Support: Worked closely with the state governments of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu.
- Climate Action Cells: Established permanent Net-Zero and Climate Action Cells in six project cities to ensure long-term local budgeting and tracking.
- Methodology Adoption: Over 35 cities across India have actively adopted its Climate Resilient City Action Planning framework.
- Regional Expansion: The program's success led to its replication in neighbouring countries like Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Malaysia.
Key Impact & Pilot Projects
- Ahmedabad: Deployed a solar-powered electric bus charging station.
- Coimbatore: Built a floating solar power plant.
- Rajkot: Introduced a green mobility zone featuring subsidized electric autorickshaws.
- Tiruchirappalli: Executed a massive urban lake restoration initiative.
- Tirunelveli: Implemented a smart, localized flood early warning system.
- Vadodara: Developed a dense Miyawaki urban forestry project.
- Financial Impact: Identified urban climate investment avenues worth INR 7.142 trillion and trained over 1,000 local practitioners.
