Goa to host conference on green industry practices

Aiming to position Goa as a leader in green practices in construction, manufacturing and hospitality industry, a CII conference on eco-friendly practices will be held later this month, organisers said Thursday.

Amar Britto, chairman of Confederation of Indian Industry's (CII) Indian Green Building Council, said leading brands from across the country would attend the two-day conference 'Sustainable Development for a Green Goa' starting May 30.

"The major objective of the conference is to mainstream the green business movement and enable Goa to emerge as a major player in green practices and to enhance the use of green practices and concepts in the construction, manufacturing, service and hospitality industry," Britto said.

The conference gains significance even as civil society groups have cautioned that Goa was going through a spell of haphazard "over development", especially, with large hill-tracts and coastal areas being purchased by real estate developers.

Britto said the conference would also create opportunities in green education and jobs and enable market transformation of eco-friendly products and equipment.

According to CII, in India there were 1,879 registered green buildings amounting to more than 1.30 billion sq ft of footprint.