New Delhi, June 12 (IANS): Delhi Metro's two new stations -- Janpath and Mandi House -- have been awarded the platinum (highest) rating for adherence to green building norms, it was announced here on Friday.

The awards were given to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) Managing Director Mangu Singh by union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Prakash Javadekar during a daylong conference on 'Green Metro Systems' organised by DMRC and the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC).

Applauding the DMRC for its green initiatives, Javadekar said: "The DMRC has given the country a new work culture and the environmental initiatives are a reflection of the same. I have travelled around the world and i can say that Delhi Metro is among the cleanest of all."

According to Mangu Singh, all metro stations being developed as part of Delhi Metro's Phase 3 are green buildings.

Meanwhile, five new solar power facilities with power generation capacity of 575 kwp, installed by Delhi Metro at different stations, depots and residential enclaves were also formally inaugurated.

IGBC's Green Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) rating is the world's first exclusive rating system to address sustainability in new Mono Rail and Metro Rail systems.

The rating system is a tool to enable new rail based MRTS to apply green concepts during design and construction to further reduce environmental impact and is done on a scale of platinum, gold, silver etc for following the green building specifications.