Unveiling the Centre of Excellence for Heat and Sustainable Cooling (CEHSC), a collaborative initiative of the Government of Maharashtra and NRDC.
Extreme heat is a growing climate and public health challenge across Maharashtra. The state ranks among the most heat-vulnerable in India, with several districts classified as facing high to very high heat risk. Rising temperatures and more frequent, prolonged heat events are increasing pressure on health, water, energy, and livelihood systems across both urban and rural areas. During the summer of 2026, Maharashtra experienced severe heat conditions, with Brahmapuri recording 47.2°C among the highest temperatures in the country. Heat stress is also projected to have significant implications for economic productivity, public health, and overall resilience across the state.
The Centre of Excellence for Heat Resilience and Sustainable Cooling (CEHSC) is an initiative of the Government of Maharashtra, currently hosted within the Relief and Rehabilitation Department, Government of Maharashtra, and being developed with technical support from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). The Centre will serve as a knowledge and coordination platform to advance research, capacity building, innovation, and policy support for integrated heat resilience and sustainable cooling solutions. Bringing together government agencies, academic institutions, technical experts, industry partners, and development organizations, CEHSC aims to strengthen preparedness, foster collaboration, and support the development of practical, scalable, and evidence-based solutions that enhance heat resilience and sustainable cooling across the state.
Approach
CEHSC is structured around five mutually reinforcing areas of work
Applied Research and Innovation
Conduct research guided by thematic working groups across heat–health, urban planning, cooling solutions, and nature-based approaches, support with the review and implementation of Heat Action Plans and run incubation hubs in partnership with premier institutions.
Capacity Building and Institutional Strengthening
Provide structured training programmes to government and non-government participants to ensure sustained delivery, complemented by certification programmes, internships, and trainings through certified universities.
Data Risk Analysis and Decision Support
Develop and manage a centralised repository that integrates local and national data to facilitate decision-making through tools such as heat-risk maps and cooling-access indices.
Policy Integration and Planning
Provide technical support, demonstrate solutions, and identify policy pathways to embed heat resilience and climate-friendly cooling into urban development plans, building regulatory frameworks, critical infrastructure and public health systems.
Knowledge and Industry Ecosystem Development
Convene national summits, innovation showcases, and Communities of Practice to bring together government, academia, and industry partners, and develop knowledge products.
Activities
Experts Convening
In June 2025, a roundtable dialogue was convened in Nagpur under the leadership of the Chief Secretary, Government of Maharashtra, to shape the vision, institutional framework, and operational roadmap of the CEHSC. The hybrid consultation brought together representatives from government departments, academic and scientific institutions, technical agencies, development partners, and civil society organisations. Participants examined existing gaps in heat action planning, sustainable cooling strategies, institutional coordination, and knowledge generation, and identified priority areas for the Centre’s work ahead.
Technical Support and Advisories
Technical partners developed sector-specific advisories addressing critical heat-risk areas, including the protection of outdoor informal workers, heat stress management in coal mines, and heat-resilient housing in urban heat-risk districts of Maharashtra. The advisories were formally released in April 2026 by the Disaster Management, Relief and Rehabilitation Department, Government of Maharashtra.
Advisory on Protection of Outdoor Informal Workers in Urban High-Heat-Risk Districts of Maharashtra
Advisory on Heat Stress Management in Coal Mines
Virtual Launch of CEHSC
Institutionalization of the CEHSC in April 2026, the Centre was formally inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Maharashtra.