(This story originally appeared in on Apr 16, 2015)

BENGALURU: Next time you soak in the fun of Twenty20 cricket under a starry sky at the Chinnaswamy Stadium , be rest assured your favourite summer pastime will leave little carbon footprint.On Wednesday, Chinnaswamy Stadium took a giant green leap when it formally launched a 400kv rooftop solar power system, becoming the first sporting venue in India to embrace solar power in a big way. Energy minister DK Shivakumar inaugurated the system.Installed on the roofs of the eastern stands, the solar panels will take care of a significant portion of power consumed by the facility. However, the floodlights won't be fuelled by the system that's estimated to generate 1,700 units of power every day.Brijesh Patel, secretary, KSCA said, "In the second phase, we plan to install another 850 kV solar photo-voltaic panels atop the western stands. Put together, the systems are expected to generate 5.9 lakh units of solar power annually and reduce 600 tonnes of carbon emission. About four lakh units will be supplied to the grid and the same will reach citizens." According to Patel, the stadium consumes about 16 lakh units of power annually and spends Rs 1 to 1.2 crore on bills.The KSCA is also looking at installing sewage treatment plants on its campus to use treated water for the ground and facilities inside the stadium.