The Government of India would like the manufacturing sector to play a bigger role in the country’s economy. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry, in its discussion paper on the growth strategy for manufacturing, has set a target to increase the sector’s contribution to the GDP to 25 percent, from the current level of about 16 percent. While this growth is necessary, the country’s environmental concerns need to be mitigated — the manufacturing sector must use energy and resources efficiently, and minimize generation of waste. It is estimated that even if every factory, power plant, car and aeroplane is shut down, the average global temperature would still increase by 0.6°C in this century. ‘Green Manufacturing’ or sustainable industrial activity is now the need of the hour and no more an empty slogan.
Green manufacturing involves transformation of industrial operations in three ways: (1) using Green energy, (2) developing and selling Green products and (3) employing Green processes in business operations. A recent global survey by BCG reveals that as many as 92 percent of the companies surveyed are engaged in Green initiatives. Manufacturing companies that adopt Green practices benefit not only through long–term cost savings, but equally importantly, from brand enhancement with customers, better regulatory traction, greater ability to attract talent and higher investor interest. However, these benefits require a long term commitment and making tradeoffs against short term objectives, as the economics of Green manufacturing is still evolving and not well understood as yet.