New Delhi: Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday (May 11) said industry being wealth creators needs to present new technologies to reduce pollution in cities and create job and tourism opportunities in rural and tribal areas. The minister was speaking at a special presentation of CII-ITC Sustainability Awards in New Delhi on Wednesday.
According to a statement from the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), eight companies received Outstanding Accomplishment and two companies received Commendation for Significant Achievement in Corporate Excellence; eight companies recognised for Excellence in Environment Management; seven companies were awarded Commendation for Significant Achievement in Corporate Social Responsibility; and two companies won for Excellence in Biodiversity and one company awarded Commendation for Significant Achievement in Biodiversity.
The minister expressed, there is a need to develop indigenous new technologies with respect to energy, and electric highways and using wastelands from mining activities in a sustainable way. He said,
We can grow bamboo on wasteland and use it to substitute imported coal.
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He emphasised that big corporates need to come forward and build sustainable business models. The minister stated that there is a need to convince people that making hydrogen from water, ethanol, etc., is possible and their talent and knowledge pool can be leveraged for this.
He highlighted that adopting a circular economy can significantly bring down manufacturing costs and reduce imports. Recycling metals like copper, aluminium, etc, can reduce the auto component manufacturing costs by 20-25 per cent, the statement added.
Sanjiv Bajaj, President CII, Chairman and Managing Director, Bajaj Finserv Limited, expressed that over the past 17 years, over 1,100 businesses have applied to these prestigious Awards and 375 have been recognised. All of them play a major part in mainstreaming and embedding sustainability into business practices.
According to the statement, these awards are layered around 16 aspects and 250 indicators that cover governance, ecology, biodiversity, and social dimensions of doing business. What makes these awards impactful is the integration of all facets of sustainability into business operations.
Sanjiv Puri, Vice President, CII, Chairman; Advisory Council, CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development and Chairman and Managing Director ITC, expressed that the winners are a source of inspiration for many others. He added climate crisis is an issue of great urgency and as businesses “we need to collectively rise with innovative solutions for environment sustainability and inclusive growth”.
Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII, appreciated Minister Nitin Gadkari’s deep involvement with the Indian industry. He highlighted that under his dynamic leadership, many milestones have been achieved by the ministry in terms of sustainable and green initiatives.
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(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
