As the Union Budget draws near, WriteCanvas, as a women-led enterprise and a responsible taxpayer, advocates for a sharpened focus on sustainability and ESG integration.
This necessitates integrating sustainability across all sectors, including supply chains, agriculture, manufacturing, IT, and beyond. While past budgets have recognized the importance of green initiatives, a more holistic approach is now critical. This necessitates a strategic shift beyond just energy transition.
While infrastructure development remains crucial, a parallel emphasis on climate resilience is equally vital for India’s future. This requires proactive measures to build a robust and adaptable economy in the face of climate change.
The focus should be more on:
- Green supply chains: Fostering sustainable practices throughout the entire value chain.
- Climate-resilient agriculture: Enhancing agricultural practices to adapt to changing climate conditions.
- Sustainable manufacturing: Promoting eco-friendly production methods and circular economy principles.
- Green IT: Driving innovation in green technologies and sustainable digital practices.
We echo the industry sentiments.
Ram Vaidyanathan, Head Environmental Sustainability, Godrej Industries Group
India’s stringent plastic regulations are not being implemented effectively. To promote a circular economy, the country needs to reduce GST on waste processing equipment and invest in modernizing existing waste processing.
MSMEs in India face significant energy costs, which need upgrading through schemes like ADEETIE. Expanding the Perform, Achieve, Trade scheme to include high-emission sectors like chemicals could align with India’s Net Zero by 2070 commitment.
Creating detailed national data sets for agri commodities could help align the sector’s goals and position India as a low-emission commodity supplier. Incentives for companies producing greener products should be provided, with a defined framework to ensure they are not misused and competitively priced.
Dr Niladari Choudhuri, President, Green Computing Foundation
The Budget 2025 should address the environmental impact of IT while aligning with India’s goal to be a leader in AI. As the country aggressively pushes to establish itself as the top destination for AI development, the rapid setup of new data centers and the increasing number of global capability centers (GCCs) will increase environmental strain.
The budget should introduce a robust carbon tax based on the carbon footprint of products and services, encouraging organizations to adopt sustainable practices. Simultaneously, it should incentivize companies through tax benefits for measurable reductions.
Tridip Kumar Goswami, Founding Director, ecoveda Climate
There is a need to establish a unified carbon market framework with a clear regulatory structure for carbon credit generation, trading, and export, with an aim to increase transparency and efficiency. A robust working standard with international best practices should be the focus, which aligns with various validation & verification standards. It should also have real-time data and information sharing platforms.
To encourage broader participation, the upcoming budget should introduce provisions that incentivize MSME and SMEs.
The government should broaden the tax benefits to individual or entity’s income from sale of RECs and VERs. There is a need for more clarity with regard to the applicability of GST on carbon credits and renewable energy certificates. The government should consider abolishing GST on both RECs and carbon credits. Clarity is also needed in custom procedures as well as tax liability of exporting carbon credits.
The budget should significantly increase R&D on developing crop varieties that are climate resilient. Focus on region-specific solutions by developing high-yielding crops tailored to local climates.
The FM should allocate funds to build disaster-resilient infrastructure in urban areas, such as flood control systems and improved building structures.
Pradeep Motwani, CEO, Terrablu Climate Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
India’s stringent plastic regulations are not being implemented effectively, leading to a lack of policy support. To promote a circular economy, India needs to reduce GST on waste processing equipment and provide subsidies for innovative technology.
Investments in modernizing existing waste processing and reducing landfilling are also needed. Indian MSME’s energy costs are significantly higher than larger companies, requiring more schemes like ADEETIE to improve efficiency.
Expanding the Perform, Achieve, Trade scheme to include high-emission sectors like chemicals could align with India’s net-zero by 2070 commitment.
Creating detailed national data sets of GHG emissions for major Indian agri commodities could help align the sector’s goals and position India as a low-emission commodity supplier. Incentives for companies making greener products should be defined and enforced.
Other measures include expanding access to renewable energy, enabling SMEs/MSMEs to go green, boosting climate finance and green bonds, promoting a circular economy, scaling electric mobility, fostering workforce transition and green jobs, strengthening public awareness and education, and incentivizing green supply chains.
R.S Subramanian, SVP South Asia, DHL Express
Reducing logistics costs by simplifying regulations and making compliance easier remains a key lever for India to become even more competitive globally. This year, we see more push from the government to set up e-commerce export hubs that aim to support MSMEs as well. Sustainability is an emerging focus area for all businesses, especially in international trade, and we hope that we can collaborate on these aspects as well.”
