“If India has to be a developed country by 2022, it has to become a leader in green business, playing a significant role in the global green economy,” Mr Adi B. Godrej, President of CII, said.

Speaking on the World Environment day at the CII-Godrej Green Business Centre, Mr Godrej said the CII has been working on the India @ 75 agenda for making India a modern developed country by 2022. Environment is one of the key focus areas of in this agenda.

The CII is witness to two distinct trends where the Indian industry has realised that the importance of ecological sustainability is important to growth of the country and many industries have taken up initiatives to ensure that growth is not at the cost of environment.

The focus is on reducing energy and water consumption, thereby making the industry competitive. This matches what the management expert Mr Michael porter said, “Going green makes strong business sense.”

With regard to energy efficiency some of the industries in the country, such as steel, cement and aluminium plants have managed to reduce their energy consumption. The Indian cement industry takes pride in having at least 3-5 plants that are more efficient compared to any other part of the world.

The green building movement has gained with Indian having about 1650 registered green buildings with a projected coverage of 1.16 billion sq.ft., second highest after the US.

The built up space would rise from the present level of 20 billion sq.ft to 100 billion sq.ft in next 20 years. That means that 80 per cent of the building stock in India is yet to be built. This offers unique opportunity to do it green by design.

>vrishi@thehindu.co.in

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