Raj Kumar Singh, Minister of State, Union Power and New and Renewable Energy, observed on August 8 that business and government must partner for sustainable development of India.
He was speaking at the launch of NITI Aayog and CII Partnership on SDGs, at the Government and Business Partnership Conclave in New Delhi on 8 August 2018, organized by NITI Aayog, Confederation of Indian Industry and UN.
The Minister said that in sustainable development three things matter the most: energy, water and circular economy/green industry. To action his 2022 agenda, he expressed confidence that India will achieve its clean energy goals even earlier than 2022 and urged everyone to be conscious and responsible towards the environment.
Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, in his address highlighted the high pace of urbanization of India at a time when the countries such as the USA and Europe are almost through with this process. Given our population, Kant emphasized, the only way to grow and develop sustainably is to use technology to leapfrog: use new and renewable energy and push for R&D and innovation to generate demand for electric vehicles, hydrogen cars, etc. and to find local solutions for 7 million strong population around the world.’
Speaking at the occasion, Yuri Afanasiev, UN Resident Coordinator, said that ‘conditions in India are favorable due to its nature, history, and demography, to come up with solutions towards a sustainable and circular economy for the world to emulate.’
Rakesh Bharti Mittal, President CII, and Vice Chairman, Bharti Enterprises Ltd stressed that the current theme of CII 2018-19 ‘India RISE: Responsible. Inclusive. Sustainable.’ is aligned with the sustainability agenda. Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, Confederation of Indian Industry, mentioned that CII’s nine Centres of Excellence are well-aligned to the SDGs.
CII-NITI Aayog have entered into a three-year partnership and a MoU was signed. This partnership focuses on specific activities that seek to develop the Vision and Action Agenda for businesses and industries to contribute to SDGs, Annual Status Reports, and Sector-specific Best Practise Documents. On this occasion, Dr. Ashok Kumar Jain, Adviser, NITI Aayog, spoke about the partnership and welcomed CII for innovative initiatives going forward.
