Industry stalwarts from hard-to-abate sector gather to deliberate on action plan to sustainability at the PHDCCI’s Global Summit on Sustainability 2025
Hard-to-Abate Sectors, be it Cement, Steel or Oil & Gas, are crucial for an economy’s growth while also contributing significantly to emissions. As India advances on its transformative journey to becoming a US$7 trillion economy by 2030, the drive towards green manufacturing and low-carbon growth has become a national priority.
The second edition of PHDCCI’s Global Summit on Sustainability held on 22nd August 2025 at Hotel Le Meridien, brought together industry stalwarts, policy makers, green technology innovators, investors and think tanks to deliberate on an action plan for decarbonisation and net-zero sector.
Speaking on the occasion, Chief Guest Sh. Narayanasa K. Bhandage, Hon’ble Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha), spoke about India’s growth as the world’s fourth-largest economy and its vision of energy self-reliance under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He emphasized that self-reliance in energy is central to India’s sustainable growth.
Mr. Ashish Khanna, Director General, International Solar Alliance (ISA), highlighted vast opportunities for MSMEs in India’s solar journey and even markets abroad. With schemes like PM-KUSUM, where solar power is being extended to farmers, with 700 MW installations being done and another 10,000 MW to be done. According to an estimate, there are nearly 300 million people who will be migrating to smaller towns in the near future, atleast half of urban buildings need to be constructed, cement and steel demand will be doubling to meet this urban challenge, there is an immense opportunity in this sector. Solar rooftop installations, solar pumps are some of the other great opportunity sectors for MSMEs in India as well as in African countries.
Mr. Sanjeev Bhatia, Executive Director, Indraprastha Gas Limited, shared IGL’s commitment to achieve net-zero by 2040, ahead of India’s 2070 target. He highlighted city gas distribution, CBG plants, LNG adoption, and hydrogen blending as key enablers of cleaner urban growth.
Mr. Karthikeyen K, Vice President, Invest India, spoke about India’s growth journey and the urgency of responsible development. He stressed that green manufacturing and decisive decarbonisation are now imperatives, highlighting government initiatives like the India Investment Grid and Project Monitoring Portal, and innovations in carbon capture and green hydrogen as signs of hope for sustainable growth.
Dr. Bhaskar Chatterjee, Former DG, Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA) and Advisor to the PHDCCI Sustainability Committee, underlined the critical challenges in hard-to-abate sectors viz., he noted their high greenhouse gas emissions, dependence on fossil fuels, costly emerging technologies, and complex supply chains. Drawing from industry experience, he emphasized the urgent need for technological innovation, fossil fuel transition, and supply chain decarbonisation.
Mr. Vikram Jain, Co-Chair, Sustainability Committee, PHDCCI, highlighted India’s progress on sustainability and called for greater responsibility to reduce emissions in oil, gas, steel, and cement through cleaner fuels, recycling, hydrogen processes, carbon capture, and innovation. To drive green industrialization and support India’s global climate commitments, it is critical to forge innovative, scalable and inclusive decarbonisation strategies within these sectors.
Mr. Hemant Jain, President, PHDCCI, emphasized that sustainability is not just an environmental agenda but a moral imperative of the industry and the society as whole. Moreover, it is a great economic opportunity for both the large as well MSME sector. With leading companies investing in green energy, these are the companies looked up by the stock market also. He urged industries to reimagine possibilities and invest in green hydrogen, solar, and other future-ready solutions.
Dr. Ranjeet Mehta, CEO & Secretary General, PHDCCI, highlighted the immense opportunities in India’s sustainability journey for the MSME sector. These smaller players are not only integral to the supply chain but also hold the potential to become powerful enablers of sustainable transformation provided they are equipped with the right tools, technologies and handholding support. He also reminded that beyond industry initiatives, every individual carries responsibility for building a greener future.
It was a very well attended and deliberated Summit with the stakeholders engaging in deep-dive discussions, best-practice sharing, and the co-creation of policy and action frameworks for decarbonizing India’s hardest-to-abate sectors. The discussions were centred around empowering ancillary MSMEs with access to cleaner technologies and financing models, building cross-sectoral collaborations for green supply chains, encouraging innovation in carbon capture, alternative fuels and circular practices and exploring market-based mechanism.