India marches towards Smart and Sustainable Development

Delhi, December 05, 2015: Delhi saw eminent speakers and thought leaders come together for a series of strategic discussions to converse about the various aspects of creating a Sustainable Habitat. Smart Green Summit and Awards 2015, an ET Edge initiative brought together leaders such as Shri. Anant Geete, (Honourable Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Govt. of India), Shri. Babul Supriyo (Minister of State for Urban Development), Mr. Anand Mahajan, (General Delegate for India, Sri Lanka & Bangladesh, Saint-Gobain) and international speakers namely Mr. J. Mayer H, Dr. Nigel Oseland, Mr. James Edwards and Mr. Simon Griffins, among others.

The celebration comes at the onset of 350th anniversary of Saint-Gobain and its success story. “Saint-Gobain believes that it can play an important role in shaping the future by designing, manufacturing and distributing building and high-performance materials, which provide innovative solutions to meet the challenges of growth, energy efficiency and environmental protection. On our 350th anniversary, we aim to strengthen this commitment even further by becoming the reference for sustainable habitat in India and doubling our business in the country in the next few years.” says Mr. Anand Mahajan, General Delegate for India, Sri Lanka & Bangladesh, Saint-Gobain.

The Summit, in the second half closed with Mr. Y.C. Deveshwar, Chairman, ITC receiving the Jury Smart Green Leader Award (Lifetime Achievement) where he shared, “Team ITC has been hard at work to realize the vision we set out for ourselves almost 2 decades ago. These 2 decades have seen us become a global exemplar in sustainability, which is much more than just being green. If India continues with the way we are, we consume more than what the planet can bear, we are on a track that is not sustainable. We must create a business model that sees us create riches for business and for the environment.”

The event was a platform to discuss a more “disruptive” form of innovation needed to bring about significant and systemic change. Shri. Anant Geete, (Honourable Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Govt. of India) said, “The world today is alert about environmental factors and sustainable development. Just like Shri. Narendra Modi enlightened at the Climate Change Summit, I would reiterate that we need to understand our responsibility towards environmental changes today and work towards development keeping sustainability in mind. This will help us transform into a developed and Green nation.”

Present at the event, Shri. Babul Supriyo, Hon’ble Minister of State for Urban Development said, “When it comes down to what we can do, we need to become more aware of how we can participate in making our cities smart enough to support the plethora of people moving into urban areas. We have 4041 cities in India, and they are full because rural areas haven’t been taken care of as they should have. With a lot of our cities being ancient, history doesn’t favour you in present times. It actually hurts you more.”

Delivering comfort in a sustainable way through design is an essential element today. Mr. Simon Griffiths, (Executive Principal, Aedas) elaborated, “There are always going to be gaps and holes that need to be filled when it comes to planning a city. To develop a city sustainably will take time. We can start to add layers to the city, whether old or new, but maybe the right way of city planning is not to expand outwards, but to consolidate. Rather than consolidate, densify current cities.”

Speaking about the event, Mr. Deepak Lamba, President, Times Conferences Limited, said “Smart Green 2015 is a platform that addresses the most pertinent need of the hour. Sustainability and innovation is an initiative to be taken with utmost priority and what’s imperative is for it to be taken up in a novel manner. With changing patterns of behaviour, we spend more time indoors than outdoors. Consequently, it is important to create a design which is conducive to our senses and takes heed of our surroundings.”

Corporate Comm India(CCI Newswire)