New Delhi: Sustainable air fuel, eco-friendly building materials and ‘green highways’ — these are some of the ways in which the Centre has been trying to reduce emissions, said Union MoS for Road Transport V.K. Singh Friday.
Speaking at a conference titled ‘Decarbonising Construction: Building a Low Carbon Future’ at the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) in Delhi, Singh also spoke about infrastructure development in the last eight to nine years, and how the road and aviation ministry has ensured that technology used was in compliance with the government’s policy framework on ‘decarbonisation’.
Decarbonisation refers to methods adopted by businesses, government and other entities to remove or reduce carbon dioxide emissions (CO2). Decarbonisation is important for India to reach its goal of reducing emissions by 45 per cent — from the 2005 level — by 2030, and achieve its net-zero target by 2070.
According to a report released by the National Institute of Urban Affairs last year, the construction sector in India accounted for one-third of energy use and was expected to consume three times more by 2050. The country’s carbon emissions were anticipated to quadruple in the same period.
Addressing concerns about emissions from the construction sector, Singh said, “The government is planning to use pre-fabricated material for construction of roads. The pace of construction will increase from the current rate of 33 km a day to 100-150 km a day.”
On ‘green highways’, Singh said trees such as banyan and peepal “which gives out more oxygen and take more CO2” will be planted on either side of roads. About 5,000 km of such pathways have already been laid down for around Rs 650 crore, as a part of decarbonisation efforts, he added.
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‘Incentivise energy-efficient methods’
Industry leaders like Pranavant, a partner at consulting firm Deloitte India; Sanjay Bajaj, vice president of business development at Wirtgen India; Anil Kumar Shimpi from Ashoka Buildcon; and Naresh Katakam from Larsen & Toubro were present at the event, among others.
Many of them called for a stronger commitment from the government to incentivise energy-efficient methods to ensure change.
“The key barrier in taking such steps is that there is no demand for it (decarbonised construction). As people are not willing to invest where cost of production is higher and they have to adjust to losses. So, the role of the government needs to be bigger in terms of regulating the industry. As competition is high, putting such aspects into the tender process will be helpful,” said Raman Ojha, global vice president of Shell Construction and Road.
Experts like Ambika Behl, principal scientist at Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) also called for giving some monetary benefits to those who are taking sustainable measures and to fine people polluting the environment.
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