North India Emerges as India’s Green Building Powerhouse: 2,475 Projects Covering 2.8 billion Sq. Ft. Spotlighted at IGBC GreenTech Summit 2026
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.