Industry needs to follow developers in going green  

Almost every developer in the country is seriously considering converting all future developments into green buildings and industries also should move towards it as going green would prove to be super-beneficial for them, feel industry leaders.
 

Speaking at the CII Green Business summit, Naushad Forbes, Director, Forbes Marshall Pvt Ltd, which specialises in energy conservation, pointed out, “There is huge potential for green businesses both from demand (user) side and from supplier side. The total potential for energy savings works out to be Rs60 billion a year.”
 

Industry leaders from India and representatives from the UK government also highlighted that there are opportunities galore for green businesses worldwide, and especially in India.
 

Vicky Treadell, British deputy high commissioner for Western India, said that the country is well positioned to embrace transition to a low carbon economy and bring about a ‘green revolution’, but that a sense of urgency was needed to achieve the transition.
 

Speaking on the sidelines of the summit, Jamshyd Godrej, Chairman, Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Co Ltd, said, “There is now a much greater focus on energy conservation in the industry, for achieving efficiency and competitiveness. Also, the initiatives under the National Action Plan on climate change taken by the government will make India one of the most efficient carbon consuming economies in the world.”
 

Talking about developers going green, Mr Godrej said, “It is heartening that we already have about 425 buildings in various stages of completion, with a footprint of over 300 million sq ft, planned as green buildings.” He said it now makes strong business sense for developers to go green given that initial investments in the case of ‘platinum’ buildings are recovered within three years.
–Sanket Dhanorkar [email protected]