India set to be major contributor to world’s ‘circular economy’: Jitendra Singh

Highlighting the Centre’s vision of “waste is the wealth”, Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Tuesday said that India is set to be a major contributor to the world’s “circular economy”.

While speaking as chief guest at the Indian Institute of Petroleum (CSIR IIP) - MSME Meet & PAN CSIR – collaborations as part of “One Week -One Lab” program, the minister said that India has huge unexplored amount of waste which is available to be converted to wealth that was not realised earlier as neither there was technology available, nor it was brought up as part of our social culture. 

“But with increasing pace of technological development and, more and more social awareness happening, this will become a rich source of economy which will be exclusive to India. Moreover it will give India an edge over other major economies,” he added.

The minister highlighted that “waste is the wealth of the coming times” and it is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of India being central to global environmental action.

Singh mentioned that CSIR - IIP Dehradun is the only lab in the country which celebrates not wealth, but ‘waste’. He added that this is an institute working for the next generation. The concept of waste to wealth is relatively new and you are its torch bearers, he said. 

The minister urged the CSIR labs to work in synergy with the MSME sector and industry as part of a wider integration in order to grow sustainably.

Jitendra Singh said that the “One Week – One Lab” (OWOL) program should be an opportunity to strengthen partnership between the CSIR labs since each lab has unique mandate and specializes in diverse areas from food to fuel, drugs, environment, materials, leather, genomics, geology and so on. Moreover the OWOL enables CSIR labs to deeply analyse and appreciate their work and use it further for the betterment of the society.

He said that India is pledged to ensure reliable, affordable and sustainable energy to a growing population, attaining net zero GHG Emissions by 2070, but this ambitious target will require focused and concerted attention. India’s energy generation depends on fossil fuel (59.8 per cent), with coal contributing to about 51 per cent even though renewable energy has grown to an impressive 38.5 per cent. There is therefore still a pressing need to further decarbonise the energy sector, which would require replacing fossil fuels with renewables, reducing fossil CO2 emissions from old power plants, and removing unavoidable carbon emissions through carbon sequestration. This is where Science and Technology has to play a major role.

The minister concluded by appreciating the efforts of CSIR IIP for its remarkable adaptability and flexibility during the pandemic in serving the nation during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

He further urged all the CSIR labs to utilise this “One week-One Lab” program as an opportunity to engage in persistent and persuasive efforts to involve all stakeholder’s participation to grow sustainably.