An agreement to this effect has just been signed by real estate major DLF and the West Bengal Green Energy Development Corporation (WBGEDC). In fact, the project is the latter's brainchild.

A total of 200 acres has been acquired in Rajarhat by DLF for the project and work is expected to start after Puja. "The project has already been designed following specifications laid down by us for DLF. The idea was to build a complex that runs on green energy," said an ecstatic SP Gon Choudhury, WBGEDC managing director and the brains behind the project.

The highrise complex will provide housing solutions to all three categories - lower, middle and higher income - and contain 8,000 apartments. Photovoltaic cells will be fitted on rooftops, terraces, refuge areas, balconies and window panes to generate power.

 "Over the years, we have developed more efficient ways of generating solar energy. We will share this knowhow with DLF so that each tower in the complex is able to generate at least 40% of its total energy requirement," said Gon Choudhury. He, however , conceded that the use of ACs and microwaves is not being considered while the total energy requirement of an apartment is considered; tubelights , fans and geysers have been factored in.

Explaining how the remaining power requirement of the complex will be satisfied , Gon Choudhury said the complex will be fitted with a dual grid system. The power generated by the solar panels will directly flow into the grid, owned by West Bengal State Electricity Development Corporation Limited (WBSEDCL ) and this will be purchased by WBSEDCL at market price. That will then be registered as the complex's own output.