India's construction sector is entering a new phase of growth where success will be defined not only by how much we build, but by how efficiently we use finite resources. As infrastructure investment accelerates and sustainability expectations rise, resource productivity is emerging as a strategic differentiator rather than simply an environmental consideration.
Globally, construction accounts for approximately 40% of natural resource consumption, around 34% of energy-related carbon emissions, and 15 to 16% of global freshwater use. In India, the sector is responsible for around 17% of the country's greenhouse gas emissions, according to WRI India.
World Nature Conservation Day often directs attention towards forests, rivers, and wildlife. Equally important, however, is the way we design and build our buildings, industries, and infrastructure. Resource conservation begins with the materials we choose, how long they are designed to last, and how efficiently they perform throughout their lifecycle.
Cement and steel dominate discussions on construction-related emissions, and rightly so. Cement production accounts for approximately 8% of global carbon dioxide emissions, while steel manufacturing contributes another 7 to 9%. As India's infrastructure pipeline grows, improving resource efficiency and reducing the environmental impact of these materials will become increasingly important.
Construction and demolition waste further compound the challenge. Much of it finds limited formal reuse, meaning valuable materials are discarded instead of re-entering the construction cycle. Closing this circularity gap requires better decisions at the design, specification, and procurement stages rather than relying solely on downstream waste management.
{{/usCountry}}Construction and demolition waste further compound the challenge. Much of it finds limited formal reuse, meaning valuable materials are discarded instead of re-entering the construction cycle. Closing this circularity gap requires better decisions at the design, specification, and procurement stages rather than relying solely on downstream waste management.
{{/usCountry}}A building material that performs reliably for decades without significant maintenance has a fundamentally different resource profile from one that is cheaper initially but requires early replacement. The true cost of a material extends across its lifecycle, including maintenance, replacement, and resource consumption rather than simply its purchase price.
The impact is already evident. Green-certified buildings in India have demonstrated energy savings of 30 to 50% and water savings of 20 to 40% compared to conventional buildings.
Increasingly, resource efficiency is also becoming a business imperative. Investors are paying closer attention to ESG performance, regulators are strengthening sustainability disclosures, and customers are seeking lower-impact building materials. Companies that integrate lifecycle thinking and circularity into their products today will be better positioned as markets and regulations continue to evolve.
Industrial byproducts such as fly ash, steel slag, and pond ash offer practical pathways towards lower-impact construction by reducing dependence on virgin raw materials while lowering embodied carbon. AAC blocks manufactured using fly ash also provide improved thermal insulation compared to conventional clay bricks, helping reduce structural loads and operational cooling demand.
Material innovation also extends to product chemistry. Replacing heavy metal-based stabilisers in uPVC pipe manufacturing with Organic Based Stabilisers (OBS) removes environmentally persistent compounds and improves the environmental profile of products used extensively across residential and commercial construction.
Policy and market expectations are increasingly reinforcing one another. The ministry of road transport and highways' guidelines promoting the use of urban solid waste in national highway construction and SEBI's Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting (BRSR) framework signal that resource efficiency is becoming central to infrastructure development and corporate governance. Wider adoption of lifecycle performance standards, embodied carbon assessment, and circular materials can further accelerate this transition.
India's infrastructure ambitions will shape the built environment for decades to come. The decisions made today on material selection, durability, and lifecycle performance will determine the environmental footprint of these assets long after construction is complete.
Future competitiveness will depend not only on how much we build, but on how productively we use the resources required to build it. Resource efficiency, circularity, and lifecycle thinking are becoming strategic capabilities that will define the next generation of construction. In a resource-constrained world, building more with less is no longer simply good sustainability. It is good strategy.
(The views expressed are personal)
This article is authored by Mudit Agarwal, chief strategy officer, BirlaNu.