ROURKELA: The Steel City has made it to the list of 50 Champion Cities across the globe in the 2021 Global Mayors Challenge of the Bloomberg Philanthropies for its innovative and promising ideas in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
As a Challenge finalist, Rourkela has advanced to the four-month championship phase of the competition, to be held from June to October, during which 15 winners will be chosen. Each winner will be entitled to $1 Million and multi-year technical assistance to implement and scale its idea. The winners will be announced early next year.
Rourkela Municipal Corporation’s proposed project to assist vegetables and fruits vendors by establishing solar-powered cold storage solution at various city locations helped it make it to the list. The project, managed by women self-help groups, has options to distribute and deliver fruits and vegetables at the doorsteps of citizens through battery-operated vehicles.