News stardom : Kolkata, 4th. February, 2023
A press conference was conducted today at the CII Eastern Region Headquarters in Kolkata, which focused on Green Building Movement in Kolkata, West Bengal and India by CII’s Indian Green Building Council (IGBC).
Gurmit Singh Arora, National Chairman, IGBC, Shakuntala Ghosh, Chairperson, IGBC Kolkata Chapter, Sushil Mohta, Co-Chair, IGBC Kolkata Chapter and M Anand, Deputy Executive Director, IGBC were present for the press interaction.
IGBC team lead by Gurmit Singh Arora, National Chairman, Indian Green Building Council discussed their ideas and implementations on accelerating the adoption of green and net zero buildings in Kolkata and West Bengal. Gurmit Singh Arora in his address said that India has reached the green footprint of 9.88 billion sq ft amounting to over 10,000 registered green building projects. He spoke about various initiatives of IGBC which has been instrumental in over 90% of green buildings going green in India with IGBC.
Shakuntala Ghosh, Chairperson, IGBC Kolkata Chapter and Partner, Ghosh Bose and Associates in her welcome address, mentioned that, IGBC was formed by Confederation of Indian Industry in 2001, has been spearheading the green building movement in the country since over two decades and is making constant efforts toward the wider adoption of green building concepts through its 29 local chapters across the country.
M Anand in his presentation to the press & media shown comprehensive overview of the Indian Green Building Council’s programmes and initiatives. He elaborated the need for green and net zero buildings, impact created by 31 holistic IGBC rating systems for various buildings and built environment types, IGBC’s Green Education programme for the students, government incentives to green rated projects by various state govts. Few of the landmark green projects from Kolkata and West Bengal and key initiatives taken also shown in his deliberations.
The Government of West Bengal has been extremely supportive to the green construction activities in the state and have notified with incentives to green rated projects in the form of an additional 10% FAR to projects which are either pre-certified or provisionally certified as Gold or above by IGBC. This incentive policy for IGBC rated green projects has been highly beneficial towards promoting efficient design and green construction practices in the built environment.
Department of Municipal Affairs – Kolkata Municipal Corporation, New Town Kolkata Development Authority, and other departments have come forward with their active engagement with IGBC’s stakeholders and its MoU partners such as CREDAI. Kolkata and West Bengal has shown massive developments with a 60% growth in adoption of green projects post these incentives.
New Town, Kolkata is India’s 1st green-rated satellite city and is a unique blend of ancient architectural practices and modern technological innovations. The city has already started becoming a much sought-after city for many national and international companies who wish to enhance the quality of life of its employees and explore new growth opportunities.
Eco Park, New Town that holds enormous number of diversified plants and is one of the greenest parks to be noticed. Other sectors like railways, transport systems, residential and commercial have also shown visible developments. Potential long-term benefits of a green built environment in West Bengal include cooler micro-climate, better health, and well-being for the citizens, apart from better management of energy/water/waste.
Sushil Mohta, Co-Chair, IGBC Kolkata Chapter and Chairman, Merlin Group in his concluding address said that the acceptance among the developers in the state to adopt green building practices has been widespread. The green building movement has now spread beyond the boundaries of Kolkata city into other districts and suburbs.
The presentation concluded with an interactive Q&A session that allowed for further discussion and exploration of the topics. The meeting looked promising with immense support from everyone to scale up the green and net zero movement in the West Bengal.
It is evident that West Bengal can become a Net Zero state by developing a Net Zero Carbon roadmap for the building sector in the state, resulting in major contribution to the country’s vision of Net Zero by 2070.
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