New Delhi, Mar 19th: The CII Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) successfully convened the GreenTech Summit 2026 in New Delhi, bringing together industry leaders, policymakers, technology innovators, and sustainability experts to accelerate the adoption of climate technologies across India’s built environment. As India advances toward its Net Zero ambitions and the vision of Viksit Bharat by India@2047, the summit underscored the growing importance of green technologies, low-carbon materials, digitalization, and integrated design approaches in shaping a sustainable and resilient future.
The summit was inaugurated by Mr Harsh Vardhan Bansal, Chair, CII Delhi Chapter & Co-Founder, Unity Group; along with Mr Gurmit Singh Arora, Chairman, IGBC Marketing, Outreach and Strategic Alliances & Managing Director, Rajco Metals; Mr Baljit Singh, Co-Chair, IGBC Delhi Chapter & Executive Vice President, Brookfield Properties; Mr K D Singh, Chair, IGBC Noida Chapter & Managing Director, Aircon Engineers Pvt. Ltd; and Mr M Anand, Dy Executive Director, CII Indian Green Building Council.
A key highlight of the summit was the strong momentum witnessed in green building adoption across North India, particularly in Uttar Pradesh and the National Capital Region (NCR), which are emerging as major hubs of sustainable development. Uttar Pradesh has secured the #2 rank nationally, with 1,673 IGBC-registered projects covering 1.78 billion sq. ft., reflecting the state’s rapid progress in embedding sustainability into its urban growth. Delhi, with 794 projects spanning 0.63 billion sq. ft., reinforcing its position as a key contributor to India’s green building movement.
The broader NCR region has demonstrated even more significant scale, with a total of 2,475 registered projects covering 2.81 billion sq. ft. of green building footprint. This growth is distributed across major urban centres, with Noida and Greater Noida contributing 748 projects (0.83 billion sq. ft.), Gurugram accounting for 651 projects (0.71 billion sq. ft.), Faridabad and Ghaziabad together contributing 282 projects (626 million sq. ft.), highlighting that the Faridabad–Ghaziabad region is also emerging as a significant cluster within NCR’s green building landscape. This cluster-driven expansion highlights NCR’s emergence as one of India’s most influential green building ecosystems.
Opening the session, Mr Baljit Singh, Co-Chair, IGBC Delhi Chapter & Executive Vice President, Brookfield Properties, emphasised the significance of the summit and the role of the built environment, saying, “This summit brings together policymakers, industry leaders and experts with a common purpose, to accelerate the adoption of climate technologies and sustainable solutions in the built environment. As India moves towards Viksit Bharat 2047, with much of its infrastructure yet to be built, we have a unique opportunity to shape our cities through climate-resilient design, low-carbon technologies and digital innovation. The solutions we adopt today will determine the sustainability and resilience of our future cities.”
Mr. Gurmit Singh Arora, Chairman, IGBC Marketing, Outreach and Strategic Alliances, Managing Director, Rajco Metals delivered the Special address. He said, “Green buildings today are not just about energy efficiency, but about using resources more efficiently, from energy and water to materials. We are already seeing buildings that reduce energy consumption significantly, and in some cases even produce more energy than they consume. Importantly, green buildings today do not cost more, in fact, certified residential buildings would cost less than conventional buildings. With over 15.74 billion sq. ft. of green building footprint being facilitated by CII-IGBC, India has emerged as a global leader, and the focus now is to scale this further and make sustainable construction the norm.”
This accelerated adoption is being actively supported by progressive policy frameworks, particularly in Uttar Pradesh, where the government has introduced a series of incentives to encourage green construction. These include an additional Floor Area Ratio (FAR) for projects that are pre-certified or provisionally certified as IGBC Gold or above, along with an additional 5% FAR offered free of charge by the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA) for projects achieving similar ratings. Further strengthening the ecosystem, the state’s Tourism Policy 2022–2032 provides 50% reimbursement of IGBC certification fees (up to INR 10 lakh) for hotels and wellness resorts adopting green building practices, thereby improving the financial viability of sustainable infrastructure.
Industry leadership driving climate action was another defining theme of the summit, with several leading organizations showcasing transformative initiatives. Brookfield is accelerating its Net Zero journey by introducing India’s first embodied carbon report for commercial real estate and upgrading its campuses toward IGBC-certified Net Zero Waste standards, setting new benchmarks for the sector. DLF is advancing climate governance and decarbonization across its extensive commercial real estate portfolio, while Emaar India is integrating solar energy, rainwater harvesting, and sustainable design into its residential developments. In the hospitality sector, Accor India is leveraging AI-powered zero-waste kitchens to reduce food waste and enhance operational efficiency, demonstrating how technology can drive sustainability outcomes. Highlighting the importance of addressing the existing built environment alongside new developments, CPWD emphasized that existing buildings hold enormous potential for energy and water savings, and noted that along with new buildings, greater focus must also be placed on upgrading existing built spaces to help achieve net zero and support Bharat’s transition toward becoming a net zero nation.
Energy innovation also took centre stage, with NTPC NETRA leading the deployment of India’s first 3 MWh vanadium redox flow battery, a breakthrough in long-duration energy storage that supports renewable energy integration. At the policy level, Mr. Harsh Vardhan Bansal, Chairman, CII Delhi State, is spearheading efforts to advance sustainable redevelopment and Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) models, contributing to the vision of a future-ready “Delhi 2.0.” Additionally, Mr. Ashish Rakheja’s elevation as President-Elect of ASHRAE marks a significant milestone, underscoring India’s growing influence in global HVAC and smart building engineering.
The summit featured a series of high-impact discussions, including a CXO panel on climate-ready buildings, which explored how integrated design, governance frameworks, and operational strategies are shaping resilient infrastructure. Technical sessions delved into next-generation low-carbon materials and the need for integrated approaches that combine energy efficiency, climate resilience, and occupant wellbeing. Discussions also highlighted the growing role of advanced technologies such as AI, IoT, and digital twins in transforming buildings into intelligent, data-driven ecosystems capable of real-time performance optimization.
The event concluded with a valedictory session that consolidated key insights and outlined a roadmap for scaling climate technologies across India’s built environment. During the valedictory session, IGBC recognized leading contributors to the green building movement, including IGBC’s founding members such as Indiabulls Limited, AGI Infra Limited, Model Economic Township Ltd, and Amchem Products Pvt Ltd, for their pioneering role in advancing sustainability in the sector.
IGBC also highlighted the growing commitment from industry stakeholders through IGBC’s Green Crusaders initiative. In a significant show of momentum, 140 projects were registered, collectively covering over 113.9 million sq. ft. of built-up area. These projects span a wide range of sectors, including commercial buildings, healthcare, factories, educational institutions, interiors, homes, affordable housing, and logistics and warehousing, indicating that sustainability is being integrated across asset classes rather than confined to select segments.
The GreenTech Summit 2026 reaffirmed IGBC’s commitment to accelerating India’s transition toward a low-carbon, resource-efficient, and climate-resilient built environment. With strong policy support, increasing industry participation, and rapid technological innovation, North India is poised to play a defining role in shaping the next phase of India’s green building transformation.
