Development in India is shaped by an advancing industrialization. The Government of India has a vision to enhance the manufacturing sector’s contribution to the gross domestic product to 25 per cent and to create 100 million jobs over the course of a decade. Currently, there are nearly 3,000 designated industrial zones in India, some of which are very large, such as the industrial corridors, investment regions, and manufacturing zones.

The risks associated with industrial development include increasing pollution levels, overuse of natural resources, and increasing amounts of waste and wastewater, leading to endangerment of ecosystems. 150 river stretches and 43 industrial areas have already been classified as critically polluted by the Central Pollution Control Board way back in 2009. Source: http://seip.igep.in/

In collaboration with GIZ Gmbh, WRI India and local experts, Auroville Consulting worked with the managers of industrial parks in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh for assessing their parks on sustainability benchmarks, as well as to plan new industrial parks taking the environment into account. Participants interacted with experts on sustainable master planning, water management, waste management, earth architecture, energy efficiency, renewable energy, low carbon mobility and ecological landscape among others.

Here’s a short video on the challenges faced, and process used for planning green industrial parks: Planning for Sustainable Industrial Parks