The 21^st Summit programme

India’s rapidly expanding digital economy, driven by cloud computing, AI, data localisation, and digital public infrastructure, is accelerating the growth of data centres across the country. As computing densities increase, so do the demands on energy and water resources, making cooling systems a critical focus area for sustainable data centre development. Resource-efficient cooling technologies, intelligent hydronic systems, water reuse solutions, and AI-enabled monitoring offer significant opportunities to optimise both energy and water consumption while improving operational reliability and resilience.

This session will explore how resource-efficient cooling can serve as a strategic enabler of sustainable digital growth by integrating advanced technologies, water stewardship practices, and digital optimisation into next-generation data centres. The discussion will examine policy, technology, and business interventions needed to build globally competitive, resilient, and resource-efficient digital infrastructure, while positioning India as a global leader in sustainable data centre development.

As India faces growing climate challenges, the need for actionable, data-driven insights has never been greater. This session explores how climate intelligence can help governments, businesses, and cities make informed decisions and strengthen resilience.

The discussion will showcase innovative solutions that help stakeholders understand climate risks, forecast urban flooding, and assess the impact of hazards such as water stress and extreme heat. By combining advanced analytics, AI, and local insights, these tools enable better planning, faster response, and more effective risk management.

As climate resilience becomes a business and development imperative, organizations need forward-looking intelligence to protect assets, ensure continuity, and build a more sustainable future.

India stands at a pivotal moment in its agricultural transformation journey. While thousands of successful pilots have demonstrated the potential of precision agriculture, climate-smart farming, digital advisory systems, and regenerative practices, the real challenge now is scaling these innovations to reach millions of farmers. As climate volatility, water stress, and supply chain disruptions intensify, agriculture must deliver not only higher productivity but also greater resilience, sustainability, and improved farmer livelihoods.

This session will explore how India can move from fragmented success stories to system-wide transformation. Bringing together perspectives from policy, technology, finance, markets, and industry, the discussion will examine how proven solutions can be adopted faster, scaled more effectively, and embedded within agricultural ecosystems. A key focus will be on ensuring that sustainability becomes a driver of productivity, profitability, and competitiveness rather than a compliance obligation.

The conversation will seek actionable pathways to build a future-ready agricultural system that enhances farmer incomes, strengthens food security, conserves natural resources, and positions India as a global leader in sustainable agriculture. The central question is: How can India transform smart and sustainable agriculture from isolated pilots into the new foundation of agricultural growth and resilience?

Why do well-intentioned sustainability initiatives stall at the pilot phase? With the global economy currently only 7.2 % circular, true circularity requires moving past isolated tweaks to reshape an interconnected web of supply chains, regulations, and consumer behaviours.

This session explores how systems thinking bridges the gap between circular principles and mass industrial adoption. We will break down how to map complex value chains, anticipate unintended consequences, and align cross-industry incentives to drive transformation at scale. Join global experts to discover actionable, systemic frameworks that transition fragmented eco-efforts into a resilient, closed-loop economy.

Sustainable finance has evolved from a niche concept into a defining force in global capital markets. Today, the scope extends beyond individual business to the entire supply chains, recognising that long-term business resilience depends on the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance of suppliers, distributors, and MSMEs. As Scope 3 emissions account for a significant share of corporate carbon footprints, businesses are increasingly collaborating with financial institutions to support their supply chain partners through innovative financing solutions. By enabling access to sustainability-linked finance, providing ESG capacity-building support, and incentivising responsible business practices, companies are helping suppliers invest in cleaner technologies, improve resource efficiency, strengthen ESG performance, and build long-term resilience.

This session will bring together industry leaders, and investors to explore how collaborative financing models are accelerating value chain transformation. The discussion will showcase emerging financing mechanisms and industry partnerships that are enabling suppliers and MSMEs to access sustainable finance, reduce Scope 3 emissions, and build resilient, competitive, and future-ready value chains.

Nature is increasingly recognized as a critical pillar of long-term business sustainability as companies acknowledge that nature-related risks can significantly impact operations, supply chains, financial performance, and business resilience. At the same time, evolving regulations on biodiversity conservation, species protection, and nature-related trade, coupled with growing investor scrutiny and the rise of nature finance, are driving businesses to take a more proactive approach to nature stewardship.

In response, leading companies are integrating nature-based solutions, biodiversity considerations, and nature-risk management into their business strategies to enhance resilience, create value, and support sustainable growth. This session will explore how businesses are addressing nature-related risks and identifying new opportunities, while leveraging global and national frameworks such as the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), India’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP), and the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) to drive action, strengthen accountability, mobilize investment, and accelerate India’s transition towards a nature-positive economy.

India’s energy transition is moving beyond renewable capacity addition toward building a smarter, more resilient, and flexible energy ecosystem. As renewable energy scales rapidly, technologies such as battery energy storage, smart grids, microgrids, virtual power plants, and green hydrogen will play a critical role in ensuring reliable, affordable, and low-carbon energy.

This session will explore how these next-generation solutions can work together to strengthen grid resilience, accelerate industrial decarbonization, enhance energy security, and unlock new investment opportunities. Bringing together policymakers, utilities, industry leaders, investors, and technology providers, the discussion will focus on the infrastructure and innovation needed to power India’s sustainable growth journey.

As sustainability expectations from customers, regulators, investors, and global markets continue to evolve, suppliers are increasingly required to strengthen their ESG performance and align with responsible business practices. This fireside chat will bring together supplier organizations to share their sustainability journey and discuss how they are preparing to meet emerging ESG requirements across value chains. The session will explore key challenges, opportunities, and practical approaches being adopted by suppliers as they transition from traditional vendors to strategic partners in building resilient and sustainable supply chains.

India took the lead in making Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) a statutory requirement, and this mandate has now completed 12 years. Over these years, CSR has evolved from a compliance to a more strategic driver of sustainability.

This session will highlight the transformation of the CSR ecosystem across sectors, scale & diversity of impact and will explore how companies are adopting innovative approaches while shaping the future of CSR in the decade ahead.

As businesses and economies confront growing demands for resource security, resilient supply chains, and sustainable growth, new opportunities are emerging across the blue economy, agriculture, transport systems, ocean energy, and critical minerals. Industries are increasingly seeking practical, scalable solutions that can unlock efficiency, reduce risk, and create long-term value. India’s rapidly evolving startup ecosystem is playing a pivotal role in this shift, developing globally relevant, cost-effective innovations that address complex sustainability challenges while opening new economic frontiers.

This session will spotlight deployment-ready startups delivering measurable impact across key sectors, aligned with the summit theme “Accelerating the Sustainability Transition – Speed | Scale | Systems.” It focuses on solutions that can be rapidly implemented, expanded across markets, and integrated into broader economic systems. More than a showcase, it serves as a collaborative platform for businesses, investors, and innovators to forge partnerships, accelerate adoption, and drive faster, system-wide transformation through real-world, scalable solutions.

As India advances towards the vision of Viksit Bharat@2047, sustaining economic growth while achieving net-zero ambitions will require robust institutions, coordinated policies and industry-led action. Anchored by the work of the India Sustainability Task Force (ISTF) under CII, this session will convene policymakers, regulators, financial institutions, industry leaders and academia to deliberate on the outcome of the work done under ISTF. The session will also mark the launch of the CII India Sustainability Task Force Report, presenting strategic recommendations on corporate sustainability roadmap and suggested policy frameworks across thematic areas of green taxonomy, green finance mechanisms, carbon markets, sustainability disclosures, MSME supply chains and enterprise action to support a competitive, resilient and sustainable India.

The transport sector is undergoing a fundamental shift, powered by multiple clean fuel pathways moving in parallel. EVs are leading the way for 2-wheelers and 3-wheelers, while public transport is being transformed by a mix of EVs and Bio-CNG. For long-haul freight, green hydrogen is emerging as a key solution, alongside higher ethanol blends like E20 and E85 for private fleet. Building integrated, multi-fuel energy ecosystems is central to energy security, economic growth, and climate resilience. This session will chart a roadmap for industry-wide adoption, identifying priority actions, investment pathways, and partnerships needed to scale sustainable mobility.

Up to 90 % of an organization’s carbon footprint lies within Scope 3 emissions—hidden deep inside global supply chains. Achieving true net-zero requires moving past isolated pilots toward systemic, large-scale value chain transformation.

This session tackles the ultimate sustainability challenge: how to decarbonize complex global supply networks in a fragmented regulatory landscape. Industry leaders and sustainability pioneers will share proven strategies to enhance data visibility, incentivize supplier action, and implement scalable interventions. Discover how to leverage digital tools, standardize metrics, and foster radical cross-sector collaboration to transform Scope 3 management from a compliance burden into a powerful engine for competitive advantage and global climate impact.

Good design practices are foundational to creating products and systems, that completely design out waste and pollution while keeping resources in use indefinitely. Moving past the linear “take-make-waste” industrial model, it uses a systems-thinking framework to ensure materials retain high value over multiple lifecycles. By rethinking everything from the choice of raw materials to business ownership structures, circular design transforms products into continuously circulating resources. Many businesses already implement such practices, however, there is a need to scale them and mainstream such changes.

• Rising heat risks: impacts on health, productivity, and supply chains
• Effectiveness of heat action plans in Indian cities: gaps and best practices
• Industry adaptation: worker safety SOPs, scheduling, hydration, and heat alerts
• Integrating heat resilience into urban master planning and building design
• Sustainable cooling transition: managing energy demand vs low-carbon solutions
• Efficient cooling systems: advanced HVAC, passive design, and district cooling
• Community cooling centers: inclusive climate relief for vulnerable groups
• Equity in heat resilience: protecting informal workers, low-income, and at-risk populations

The session will examine how national regulations can align with global sustainability frameworks while bridging the gap between commitments and on-ground outcomes. It will explore ways to strengthen policy design and enforcement, especially in emerging economies, and assess gaps in current global agreements. The discussion will also highlight the need for harmonized standards and the role of voluntary frameworks and corporate action. Additionally, it will look at how digital tools like AI and blockchain can enhance monitoring and accountability.

As cities continue to grow, the development is no longer limited to expanding infrastructure but ensuring that urban systems remain liveable, resilient and quality of life. Decisions related to land use, construction, industrial development, waste management, and infrastructure investment have far-reaching implications for economic productivity, public health, climate resilience, and air quality. Building future-ready cities requires integrated planning, innovative technologies, and collaborative governance that can respond to emerging risks while supporting sustainable growth. This session will explore how governments, industry, and urban practitioners can work together to create Liveable and resilient urban systems that deliver cleaner environments, stronger economies, and improved quality of life.

• Environmental health and air quality as a core urban resilience parameter
• Cross-sectoral governance aligning industry, transport, and planning toward liveability
• Climate-adaptive strategies for heat, flooding, and water stress
• Real-time monitoring driving accountable city planning
• Intelligent infrastructure making pollution and carbon loads visible
• Circular economy in construction and waste to cut urban pollutant burden