The minister has asked the West Bengal Green Energy Development Corporation (WBGEDC) to send a proposal to his department. “We have decided green rating should be made mandatory for those commercial buildings which consume 100 KW of power or more in one hour.’'

He said the ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE) has decided that the WBGEDC should be treated as regional secretariat of the eastern region. So those who want that their buildings should have green rating should approach the WBGEDC. The WBGEDC and The Energy and Resources Institute (Teri) would send experts for green rating and finally send the report to the MNRE for their active consideration. The MNRE will soon declare fiscal incentives for those who go for green house rating.

Mr Deepak Gupta, secretary, MNRE, said the building sector poses a major environment challenge as 40 per cent of global emission are contributed by the buildings. He said large constructions are coming up in Rajarhat close to Kolkata and these buildings should be solar passive buildings with solar water heater system to replace electric heaters and save power.
Mr Gupta said: “Our ministry plans that there should be 60 such cities with green rating buildings.''

Dr RK Pachauri, director-general, Teri, said the state government has assigned Teri to file a report on climate change. He said Teri was assigned with the job three months ago and it would take about a year to complete it.