NITI Aayog and CII Launch Partnership on SDGs

Union Minister Shri Raj Kumar Singh, Minister of State (IC), Power and New & Renewable Energy, Government of India, mentioned that business and
government must partner for sustainable development of India. He was speaking at the launch of NITI Aayog and CII Partnership on SDGs, at the Government and Business Partnership Conclave in New Delhi on August 8, 2018, organized by NITI Aayog, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), and UN.

The Minister said that in sustainable development three things matter
the most: energy, water, and circular economy/green industry. To action his
2022 agenda, he expressed confidence that India will achieve its clean energy goals even earlier than 2022 and urged everyone to be conscious and responsible towards the environment.

Shri Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, in his address highlighted the high pace of India’s urbanization at a time when the countries such as the USA are almost through with this process. Given our population, Shri Kant emphasized, “the only way to grow and develop sustainably is to use technology to leapfrog: use new and renewable energy and push for R&D
and innovation to generate demand for electric vehicles, hydrogen cars, etc., and to find local solutions for 7 million strong population around the world.”

Speaking at the occasion, Mr Yuri Afanasiev, UN Resident Coordinator,
said that “conditions in India are favourable due to its nature, history, and
demography, to come up with solutions towards a sustainable and circular
economy for the world to emulate.” Shri Rakesh Bharti Mittal, President
CII, and Vice Chairman, Bharti Enterprises Ltd stressed that the current
theme of CII 2018/19 ‘India RISE: Responsible. Inclusive. Sustainable.’ is
aligned with the sustainability agenda.

Shri Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII, mentioned that CII’s nine Centres of Excellence are well-aligned to the SDGs.

CII–NITI Aayog have entered into a three-year partnership and an MoU was
signed. This partnership focusses on specific activities that seek to develop:

1. Vision and Action Agenda for businesses and industries to contribute to SDGs;

2Annual Status Reports;

3. Sectorspecific Best Practise Documents.

On this occasion Dr Ashok Kumar Jain, Adviser, NITI Aayog, spoke about the partnership and welcomed CII for innovative initiatives going forward. CII launched the report—Indian
Solutions for the World to Achieve Sdgs. The report deep-dives into each
of the SDGs, targets, and business implications thereof. The report cites
examples that illustrate how companies have incorporated the SDGs framework into their business strategy and have gone about achieving them. Distinguished Participants in the Conclave included senior officials from Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Ministry of Power, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, and Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation and representatives of several State governments, such as Telangana,
Andhra Pradesh, and Gujarat.

Source: pib.nic.in