Building sustainable infrastructure to overcome challenges and ensure success

India’s sustainable infrastructure in the pace of urbanisation

India’s sustainable infrastructure is facing severe challenges due to the rapid pace of urbanisation. While there have been some efforts towards sustainable development, such as the Smart Cities Mission and the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation, these initiatives face various constraints such as inadequate financial resources, inadequate planning, and lack of public awareness.

Moreover, is the need for better planning and policy frameworks to promote sustainable development. These should include a focus on integrated urban planning, which takes into account environmental sustainability, social equity, and economic growth. It is also essential to involve communities in the planning and decision-making process to ensure their needs and aspirations are considered.

Construction trends and innovation: what are the opportunities?

Sustainable construction materials and technologies

One of India’s greatest challenges in achieving sustainable infrastructure is preserving its natural environment, where new infrastructure and traditional construction practices have the potential to obstruct its green efforts. ReGen Villages is an initiative that seeks to connect artificial intelligence and machine learning with nature, by facilitating a continued use of natural materials in construction initiatives.

India may also find this initiative of ‘regenerative resiliency’ applies well to the needs of communities as it plans for urban growth, especially where these technologies can integrate high yield organic food, clean water, renewable energy and circular waste-to-resource management at the neighbourhood scale. In effect, this could result in a great number of self-sufficient communities which co-operate with preserved spaces for biodiverse cultivation.

Availability of finance to boost green infrastructure development

India's urban population is expected to reach 600 million by 2030, meaning cities will need large amounts of financing to promote green, smart, inclusive and sustainable urbanisation. Yet, financing this infrastructure remains a challenge as public-private partnerships are slow to gain traction.

Central and state governments finance over 75% of city infrastructure in India, while urban local bodies (ULB) finance 15% through their own surplus revenues. Currently, only 5% of infrastructure needs in cities are being financed through private sources. With an urgent need to leverage private and commercial investment to fill these financial gaps, what are the barriers?

Overall, private investors will need to see stronger regulatory environments and revenue collections, as high urban property tax and low service charges for municipal services undermine the financial viability and attractiveness of infrastructure projects. Implementing structural reforms in taxation policy and fiscal transfer systems could also allow some large, high-potential cities to leverage a higher volume of private financing.

Auguste Tano Kouamé, Country Director of World Bank, India adds - ‘Creating a conducive environment for ULBs, especially large and creditworthy ones, to borrow more from private sources will be critical to ensuring that cities are able to improve living standards of their growing populations in a sustainable manner.’

Project management practices to help meet sustainability challenges

As financial barriers to sustainable infrastructure continue to exist, project managers will need to consider strategies for delivering green infrastructure projects within client cost expectations. To do this, they will need to modify traditional practices and processes to consistently consider sustainability in every phase of a project, from start to finish. Other greening project management practices include:

• Sourcing materials ethically and ensuring fair labour standards are met with all contractors and suppliers
• Implementing sustainable design, engineering and construction practices powered by relevant data to track, measure and reduce emissions and waste throughout the project cycle
• Using logistics processes which optimise deliveries to reduce mileage, emissions and carbon footprint
• Operating assets and equipment in an energy-efficient way, that is safe for the environment and for the workforce

Greening project management practices are both a timely and cost-effective strategy for sustainable construction projects, especially as they are collaborative with cross-disciplinary teams during the earliest stages and throughout projects. In doing so, they can also help to break barriers between disciplines in construction, opening up diversity, inclusion and skill requirements across projects.

How far has the industry progressed in building sustainable and resilient infrastructure and communities?

As one of the most resource-intensive industries with a large environmental footprint, the construction industry in India is under immense pressure to become more sustainable and resilient. Policymakers are rethinking their approaches to planning and initiatives, while businesses are reassessing their current patterns and systems to lessen the impact of potential environmental and industry risks.

While the industry has made good progress with sustainable infrastructure initiatives, these can ultimately benefit from significant private financing, greening project management practices and investment in technologies which can help to implement green initiatives, reduce errors and streamline collaboration.

India has also amended its arbitration legislation to install the RICS India Arbitration Service, which is a much quicker, more cost-effective and sector-specific mechanism for helping businesses and professionals autonomously resolve project delays and disputes within the construction industry.

 Join us at the India Construction Conferenceas we discuss how to make the construction industry sustainable, resilient and more efficient.