NEW DELHI: Referring to the country's urbanisation demands, Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday said that India needs to add about 700-900 million square metres (sqm) of commercial and residential space every year by 2030. “If India is going to be a developed country by 2047, infrastructure will be a vital component in our ambition,” he added.
Acknowledging the environmental considerations especially Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste associated with the construction sector, Puri said that with increasing construction activity, it is imperative to find more efficient solutions to manage the C&D waste that will arise.
Talking about challenges and opportunities of C&D waste further, he mentioned that construction and demolition waste is one of the largest solid waste streams in the world and as per the estimates, the construction industry in India generates about 150-500 million tonnes of C&D waste every year.
“This brings many challenges to the forefront such as unauthorised dumping, a lack of space for disposal, and improper mixing with biodegradable waste…There is a huge demand for technologies that will support waste reduction and recycling waste material,” said the minister.
He was speaking at the inauguration of a national workshop on “Recent Development with recycling and use of C&D waste in the construction sector” organised by the construction wing of the ministry—Central Public Work Department (CPWD) in collaboration with SINTEF Norway.
Highlighting the efforts of the government towards sustainable waste management, the minister noted that the urban missions which were launched in 2015 are shining examples of the government’s green vision to adopt sustainable methods of infrastructure creation and service delivery.
According to Puri, solid waste processing has witnessed a significant rise from mere 17 percent in 2014 to more than 77 percent in 2024, and the construction industry is among the fastest growing industries in India. "It is the second-largest employer in the country and has forward and backward linkages across 250 sectors of the economy, and India will have the third-largest construction market globally by 2025," he said.
“Now, we are transferring these capabilities in other forms of waste management, including C&D waste, plastic waste, e-waste and bio-hazardous waste. The government has released elaborate guidelines on these issues…Our government has released comprehensive guidelines across the value chain on effective disposal of C&D waste,” added Puri.