Sustainability Outlook Headlines

Govt to explore strict 'water auditing' mechanism for industries

Amid growing decline of per capita annual availability of water in India, different central ministries have resolved to chalk out a joint strategy to ensure efficient use of water and work for devising a mechanism of "water auditing" for various users including industries and municipal bodies across the country.

Such auditing may be done by an autonomous body - Bureau of Water Use Efficiency - which will ensure best practices of water use in industries, agriculture and municipal bodies.

"The auditing may be linked to a strict water regulation and pricing mechanism where the... Read more..

Emerging ESG Action Landscape of 2013 reveals expectation mismatch between Indian business and investors

 A recent research study by the working group on sustainability disclosure and reporting under the Sustainable Business Leadership Forum (SBLF) which analyzed the changing landscape and actions by Indian businesses and their supply chain surrounding Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) parameters found increased management of impact metrics related to ESG but the lack of disclosure of performance regarding the same. This new focus on measuring, managing and disclosing non-financial metrics comes amidst an increasing demand from global customers and investors for ESG data as well as... Read more..

India’s Essar Eyes Water Projects, Desalination Plants

Essar Group, owned by the billionaire brothers Shashi and Ravi Ruia, plans to increase its India water revenue more than fourfold by 2017 to meet the rising demand for water-treatment and supply projects.

Essar intends to bid for desalination plants, water distribution and sewage facility works in Asia’s third-largest economy, where the government has set aside 1.1 trillion rupees ($18 billion) for water projects, said Neeraj Sanghi, chief executive officer of Essar Concessions India Ltd.

“We expect this sector to be more organized over the next three to five years,” Sanghi... Read more..

India gears up its waste-to-energy initiatives

India is all set to convert its trash to treasure as it gears up, albeit a bit slowly, to strengthen its waste-to-energy sector and boost recycling and reuse - with one expert estimating the annual earnings from biofuel alone at Rs.50,000 crore ($11 billion).

Aiding India's transition to green technology are a host of European and American consultants with economically viable and eco-friendly solutions.

"There will be three-fold benefits in terms of environment protection, economy and optimising use of space," Amiya Kumar Sahu, president of the National Solid Waste... Read more..

REC Trading October 2013 – Non-solar REC trade triples; Solar REC posts 28.4% growth

The REC trading for the month of October that took place on 30th October 2013. The trading of both non-solar and solar RECs showed marked improvement from previous month. The details of the trading are as follows:

Non-Solar

The sale of non-solar REC increased by 3 times from the previous month, but it was still lower than that record trade volumes experienced in the month of July 2013. The trading price continued to be at the floor of Rs. 1500/REC. However, only about 4% of the total non-solar RECs that were available for sale were actually bought. On the positive side, this... Read more..

Ramky Acquires Sembcorp's Stake In Indian JV

Sembcorp Environment, subsidiary of Sembcorp Industries, is divesting its entire stake of 51% in Sembcorp Enviro (India) to partner Ramky International (Singapore) for $7.25 Mn, Straitstimes states. The move is line to streamline its businesses and sharpen its strategy for the Indian market.

Sembcorp Enviro (India) is a special purpose vehicle that owns a 51 per cent stake in SembRamky Environmental Management, a medical waste collection and treatment player in India.

The Singapore major SembCorp Industries had acquired a 51% stake in Medicare Incin Pvt Ltd, a wholly-owned... Read more..

M&M to enter branded fruit business

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) is planning to commercialise banana ripening, as backward integration to support the company’s planned branded fruit launch early next month.

In August this year, the company had launched a banana procurement, ripening and marketing pilot in Delhi. Next month, it is set to introduce long, spotless bananas with increased shelf-life on a commercial basis and expand these operations to Mumbai early next year. The company has handled 150 tonnes of banana so far this year and plans to scale this up to 15,000 tonnes by next year.

For its farm tech... Read more..

Solar powered airplane to touch ground in India in 2015

The Solar Impulse - a revolutionary solar powered airplane which had completed its first cross-country journey in the USA in July - will make New Delhi and Varanasi its landing and departing destinations during its round the world mission in 2015.

Idea behind this Swiss-made airplane, which had completed its US mission without using a drop of fossil fuel on board, is to demonstrate the capabilities of clean technology and renewable energy.

The move comes at a time when the governments across the world are looking for alternatives of fossil fuel to not only fight the menace of... Read more..

Southern Railway plans to set up windmills in Nellai district

The Southern Railway is toying with the idea of setting up windmills in the district in a bid to draw on alternative energy to trim its annual electricity bill.

General Manager, Southern Railway, Rakesh Mishra told reporters on Tuesday that a comprehensive project report on installing windmills was under preparation.

Mr. Mishra, accompanied by Railway Divisional Manager, Madurai, A.K.Rastogi, was inspecting the facilities at the Tirunelveli Railway Junction.

Mr.Mishra cited the case of the Integrated Coach Factory which decided to go in for the non-conventional energy... Read more..

China willing to address border, water concerns, says official

A top Chinese official on Tuesday said China had underlined its willingness to address India’s concerns about the boundary dispute and trans-border rivers through agreements signed during last week’s visit by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

While the Border Defence Cooperation Agreement (BDCA) would be a “guarantor” for peace and help avoid “mistakes” such as face-offs, the Chinese Government would also not “seek its self-interest” in managing river waters, said Huang Xilian, a Counsellor in the Foreign Ministry’s Asia Department, in an interaction here with Indian journalists.

France in talks with India on nuclear law implications

France is in talks with India on the civil nuclear law's implications to take them into consideration during ongoing negotiations to finalise their contract, French Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem said here.

The minister, who is also Spokesperson for the government, said all the French companies operating in India respect the law of the country, stressing that France wishes to find a "lasting" technical solution for crucial challenge of energy security for this country.

"We hold a dialogue with Indian authorities on the implications of this law, to take them into... Read more..

GM emissions violation "corporate fraud"

General Motors committed a “corporate fraud” to make vehicles that violated emission rules and eventually forced the recall of 114,000 Chevrolet Taveras – a popular multi-utility vehicle – in India in July, a government appointed panel probing the issue has said in a report.

The “fraud” was carried out with “full knowledge and complicity” of some of its top management, who were there between 2005-2012, the report, cited by the Hindustan Times, said as it recommended strong punitive measures against the automaker.

In July, GM India announced a recall of over 114,000 Taveras —... Read more..