“It is heartening to learn about the tremendous support that the campaign is receiving from all sections of society across the country. Earth Hour shows the power of collective action towards a vote for the planet,” said WWF-India Chief Executive Officer and secretary-general Ravi Singh here on Friday.

Many prominent citizens such as Aamir Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and Sachin Tendulkar have extended their support to the campaign and urged fellow-citizens to turn off their lights for an hour on Saturday. Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu and U.N. Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon have also supported the campaign and appealed to global citizens to sign up.

Earth Hour-2009 is reaching out to one billion people across the world. The idea was initiated in Australia on March 31, 2007, where 2 million people and 2,000 corporate houses turned off their lights for an hour. The campaign became wider in 2008 with 35 countries and about 50 million people participating across the globe.

This Saturday, 2,000 cities from 85 countries will be participating in this unusual campaign. In India, citizens and corporate houses are joining in to voice their concern.

Some of Mumbai’s best known landmarks like the Reserve Bank of India and Air India building will be switching off. In Delhi, PVR Cinemas and educational institutions like Delhi University and Jamia Millia are joining in. Hotel chains including ITC WelcomeGroup and IT giants like Wipro and Infosys, leading banks such as ICICI, HDFC, HSBC, Standard Chartered, ING Vysya, industry leaders Godrej Group, Genpact, Tata Indicom, Nokia, Nestle and many more have come forward to observe Earth Hour.

The Delhi Government has been proactively supporting the campaign by urging citizens to participate in large numbers. Public service announcements have been appealing to citizens to join in the global movement. They have reached out to over 2,000 residents’ welfare associations and schools in the city and counting.