NEW DELHI: The aviation ministry has asked all airports in the country to install solar energy plants on the lines of the Kochi airport, the world first aerodrome that runs completely on solar power.

Union aviation minister Ashok Gajapati Raju told EThe has asked Airports Authority of India (AAI) to make at least four airports energy neutral in the first phase ending February 2017—which means these aerodromes will generate electricity through solar energy— and start work on other airports simultaneously.

"I have asked AAI to work towards fulfilling their power needs by harnessing solar energy. Four AAI airports will be producing more than their requirement as they migrate to solar energy between now and February 2017," Raju told ET, adding that the airports at Bhubaneswar, Madurai, Gaya and Varanasi will be taken up in the first phase.

A senior civil aviation ministry official said five other airports are in the process of installing solar panels. "Airports in Ahmedabad, Chennai, Jaipur, Kolkata and Chandigarh will, by March 2016, start the process to install solar power capacity to generate at least 23 MW power," the official said, adding that airports in smaller cities have swathes of vacant land which can be used for the purpose. "These airports could generate solar power, which can be used by the city administration also, if need be," the official said.

The airport in Kochi, run by Cochin International Airport Limited, is the only airport in the country that has installed solar panels to generate 12 MW power to source its energy needs. The power will be generated through solar panel cells spread across 45 acres.

The Narendra Modi government has announced an ambitious target of setting up 170 gigawatt of wind, solar and biomass power projects by 2022. Solar energy is expected to account for 18% of total power generation capacity in India by 2030 from 1% at present.