The environment is suffering as are the people. In light of this, sustainability has become a major concern for businesses. This is where we come in.
Be a global leader, in thought and action, to drive transformation, towards sustainable development.
To catalyse innovative ideas and solutions, in India, and globally, to enable business, and its stakeholders, in sustainable value creation.
CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development is a not-for-profit, industry- led institution that helps business become sustainable organizations. It is on a mission to propagate innovative ideas and solutions in India and globally, to enable business, and its stakeholders in sustainable value creation. CESD has leveraged its role of all- inclusive ecosystem player, partnering industry, government, and civil society. It has been a pioneer of environment management systems, biodiversity mapping, sustainability reporting, integrated reporting, and social & natural capital valuation in India, thus upgrading business in India to sustainable competitiveness.
Since its inception in the year 2006, CII-ITC CESD has evolved with a tremendous trajectory, starting off with the incubation phase of introducing business services, right through augmenting manpower capacity in other cities since 2013, eventually scaling up to the highest rung of strengthening work on macro-economic issues with both domestic and global policy interventions.
On the eve of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) [also known as the Earth Summit or Rio Summit] in June 1992, a new global organization - Business Council for Sustainable Development (BCSD) - was founded to involve business in sustainable development issues. A similar and parallel movement emerged in India at the very same time as the BCSD. In 1991, Ratan Tata of the Tata Group of Companies, a leading corporate conglomerate in India, was selected to represent India, China, and Southeast Asia in the BCSD. Being a past president of the leading industry association, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), known as the Confederation of Engineering Industry (CEI) at that time, Ratan Tata urged the industry association to organize a regional conference “Changing Course towards Sustainable Development”. Recognizing the importance of this emerging discipline, the then Director-General, Tarun Das, willingly accepted this responsibility. The regional initiative was lead by Avininder Singh, Chairman, CII National Environment Committee. Eminent global, regional, and national personalities participated in this milestone conference. This included Maurice Strong, Chairman of the Earth Summit, Stephan Schmidheiny, Founder of the BCSD and author of Changing Course, Hugh Faulkner, a former Canadian politician, industrialist & co-founder of BCSD, and Ratan Tata. Through this conference, Indian industry leaders made a strong commitment and a solid intellectual foundation was laid to what is today the CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development (CII-ITC CESD).
Principal Counsellor
Principal Counsellor
Shikhar Jain has over 20 years of experience working with variety of industries, where he has designed, implemented and integrated Quality, Environmental, Health & Safety and Social programs/management systems in over 100 individual facilities and for corporate-wide operations. Shikhar has developed and implemented best practices for several top Indian firms, including in areas of improved operational efficiency, good EHS practices and enhanced compliance management.
Deputy Director-General
Deputy Director-General
Seema Arora pioneered the creation of services on Environment and Sustainable Development within CII. Her journey with CII began with engaging Indian Industry towards the run up to the Earth Summit in 1992. Seema Arora works on designing innovative products and frameworks to build the business case for industry to invest in sustainability. She has created several initiatives including the world’s first Corporate Sustainability Label from CESD. As the head of CESD she networks with industry, government and community-based organisations to develop policy instruments and innovative voluntary approaches to sustainable development. She is also providing inputs to defining sustainable development action plans for state governments. Ms Arora provides training and counseling to industry for evolving a sustainability vision and a portfolio of sustainability strategies. Her main areas of interest include environmental policy, management systems, corporate sustainability, institutional strengthening and capacity building. Seema Arora is a member of the Stakeholder Council of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Governance for Sustainability, external review panel for Sustainability Reporting for several global companies, and Polaris Committee of FBN (Family Business Network) International. She is a Bachelor’s in Engineering from Delhi University.
Counsellor
Counsellor
Rajesh has provided his services as consultant in the areas of Carbon Advisory Services, Energy Efficiency, Energy Management Systems and Green Buildings. He has also worked in the areas of Project Management Consultancy for Renewable Energy Projects from concept to commissioning including Loan Appraisal, Lender’s Engineers and Techno commercial Due Diligence. His experience also includes optimizing & monitoring HVAC systems and consultancy services for HVAC and IAQ Improvement. He also worked on the carbon & water accounting and ACI accreditation for Airports. Earlier he has worked with Paharpur Business Centre, Wartsila India Ltd and various other Energy Consulting Firms. He has worked with clients such as EU, MNRE, CEA, DMRC, DLF Ltd, American Embassy School, Norwegian Embassy, J K Lakshmi White Cement Ltd etc for various consulting assignments. He has completed his MBA in Power Management from University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun and BE in Electrical Engineering from Veer Narmad South Gujarat University, Surat. He is a certified Energy Manager, certified LAC EHSMS (NBQP Accredited), certified CII Sustainability Award Assessor, certified CII CAP 2.0 Award Assessor and faculty of LAC EnMS (NBQP Accredited).
Executive Officer
Executive Officer
Sanaiya has completed her M.Sc in Environment Management for Business from Sheffield Hallam University
Executive
Executive
Priyanka is a gold medalist in M.Sc. Natural Resource Management (NRM). She did her post-graduation in NRM from University School of Environment Management, GGSIPU, New Delhi. Prior to joining CII, she interned with WWF-India and CII, while pursuing her academics. At CESD, she works on environment policy and advocacy, with an objective to imbibe the concept of sustainability into mainstream business planning. Her key responsibilities include providing support in specialized projects like GHG inventorization of entire IPPU sector for the purpose of preparation of BUR-2, CII-NITI Aayog: Cleaner Air Better Life Project. She also manages CII-EnCASe: Environmental Compliance & Advisory Services. She also engages with the members of CII-National Committee on Environment (NCE), for seeking their inputs on various environmental issues to further undertake policy dialogue with all concerned stakeholders.
Consultant
Consultant
Lakshmi has completed her B.Com(Hons) from Jesus and Mary College, Delhi University. Has also taken some courses in computer programming at NIIT. Joined CII, Central office and worked there, for a little under 5 years Was a part of the Michael Porter Project which entailed assessing the competitiveness of Indian Industry in particular industry sectors. Also was actively involved with all the major events – trade fairs, conferences, WEF, auto expo etc. Was given independent charge of the in-house magazine, Grapevine. She worked in the Development Sector, at the NGO, Sanjivini Society for Mental Health, as a trained counsellor for ten years. The work there entailed counselling clients with a multitude of emotional problems, conducting community outreach programs for schools and corporates as well as in house workshops. Organising panel discussions/fundraisers and working on their publication and website was a part of her job profile. Lakshmi works in the Communications team and has been with CESD for over four years.
Manager
Manager
Consultant
Consultant
Priyanka Mathur brings to CII analytical experience of 7 years in research and business analysis. She also has 1.5 years of entrepreneurial experience in the Food & Beverage industry.
Consultant
Consultant
Nandini has a doctorate in atmospheric chemistry and a master's degree in environmental chemistry. She has taught several subjects related to environmental science and sustainability/global change in an interdisciplinary context at the Master's level at TERI University
Executive Officer
Executive Officer
Kavita is a development sector professional with working experience at CAPART (MoRD)
Associate
Associate
Arunima is M.Sc. Environmental Science from Amity University. She did her dissertation programme from The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) on GIS-Based Emission Inventory of Ghaziabad District using AERMOD. She joined Frost & Sullivan as an intern after her Masters. She has done her graduation in B.Sc. Botany (Hons.). At CESD, she is working with the climate change department as an Associate.
Counsellor
Counsellor
Pravir has a master degree in Botany and pursuing Ph. D. degree from Amravati University.
Deputy Director
Deputy Director
Jayashree has been working in the development sector for the past 12 years. She has handled various sustainable projects in different parts of the country in health and education. She also has a wide experience working with international organizations.
Executive
Executive
Gajendra is an account professional with a Bachelor’s degree and experience of 6 years in domestic and MNC companies. He has worked with Genpact India and Mercer India in the past. Currently, he is taking care of finance and accounts activities in CESD and also supports administration.
Counsellor
Counsellor
Divya Aggarwal has completed her M.E. (Structures) & B.E. (Civil) from Thapar University, Patiala. She joins us from Punjab Pollution Control Board, Patiala with 8 years of experience in control of pollution generating from various sources of pollution in different types of industries and monitoring of groundwater, sewage, effluent & emissions generated from such sources. As a Counsellor in CESD, she is responsible for training, advisory and consulting on legal compliances as per Environment regulations & Sustainability, Waste Management.
Manager
Manager
Banajyotsna has done her post-graduation in Environmental Science from Bharati Vidyapeeth Institute of Environment Education & Research and graduation in Microbiology from Pune University. She previously worked with Hazards Centre and has 7 years of work experience in research and analysis
Consultant
Consultant
A marketing professional with almost 23 years of experience, Asha leads the Central Marketing Team for the Executive Education programmes for capacity building at CESD and is also a part of CII-ITC Sustainability Awards, which is a part of CESD’s continued effort to create awareness on sustainability practices and to create capabilities in business, where her responsibilities include promoting Sustainability Awards and Assessor Training, analysis of the applications, and preparation of feedback reports, support at the Awards Ceremony etc. Prior to joining CESD, she worked with Oxford University Press for 19 years where she was responsible for Event Management, Media Relations, Stakeholder Engagement, among others. She holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Public Relations from Bhartiya Vidya Bhawan, New Delhi.
Deputy Director
Deputy Director
Vijayasudha holds a B.SC in Chemistry from Madras University. She has been with CII for the last 21 years. Before joining the Centre in April 2011 to take on the administrative responsibilities and holding charge of the HoDs office.
Executive Officer
Executive Officer
Syamala has a Masters degree in Genetics and a PG Diploma in Genetic Counselling. She has five years of experience in Genetics
Counsellor
Counsellor
Swati is facilitating companies in India to integrate sustainability into their business functioning. At CESD she is managing and continuously developing recognition product
Executive Officer
Executive Officer
Surabhi Pathak is an MBA in Oil and Gas Management from University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun and B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from Uttar Pradesh Technical University, Lucknow. She has provided services as a Consultant in the area of Oil and Gas Pipelines. She also has worked as an Assistant Marketing Manager for India Oil and Gas Review Summit and International Exhibition (IORS) and on the Oil and Gas Journal of Oil Asia Publications Pvt. Ltd. At CESD she is working on Energy and Sustainability Consulting, Training and Capacity Building, Report Writing and Presentation, Project of Energy Management Systems ISO 50001:2011 at DMRC New Delhi, developing NATCOM GHG emission inventory for IPPU sector for MoEFCC.
Associate Counsellor
Associate Counsellor
Shipra is an experienced professional contributing to global sustainability framework by helping businesses adopt sustainable practices. In the last 7 years, she has conceptualized, developed and successfully implemented projects and products that have benefited businesses. At CESD, Shipra handholds industry clients for disclosing intangibles in the form of Sustainability report; assists companies for developing internal systems and processes and; trains professionals on Sustainability reporting framework.
Associate Counsellor
Associate Counsellor
Shweta has done her M.Tech in Energy Studies & Environment Management from Centre for Energy Studies, IIT Delhi and B.Tech in Agricultural Engineering (farm machinery and power management) from G.B. Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar, Uttrakhand. Her overall working experience is above 6 years. She has contributed her domain knowledge & skills in the areas of carbon advisory services mainly clean development mechanism, energy efficiency in products and processes with the State Designated Agency (SDA), Delhi, UJALA Scheme, Perform Achieve and Trade (PAT) scheme, accreditations of energy management systems and the star rating of buildings, investment-grade energy audits, etc. She has also worked in the area of renewable energy like designing and implementation of Delhi Solar Policy, Waste to Energy, Renewable Purchase Obligations, Demand Side Management, Energy Conservation Building Code, training and consultation in the development of Green House Gas Inventory, NATCOM (Biennial Updated Report 3 - Third National Communication).
Executive
Executive
Shreya is a BBA LLB graduate from Nirma University, with good working experience at different NGOs, high court, supreme court and law firms. After graduation, she volunteered at Sadhana Village, working for intellectually disabled adults. Post which she joined UNHCR, where she assisted in the status determination of mandate refugees and finding them durable solutions. At CII, as a part of the Sustainability Awards team, she aspires to bring more and more companies under the umbrella of sustainable growth and making them socially responsible.
Executive
Executive
Shreya Dutta received a degree in Bachelor of Business Administration at Amity University
Consultant
Consultant
Shourjomay holds a Master's degree in Environmental Studies and Resource Management from the TERI University and a Bachelor's degree in Physics (Honors) from the University of Delhi. Prior to joining CESD, he worked on multiple projects utilizing and developing his skills on various aspects of climate change, agriculture and water. He was part of the team that developed India's first bottom-up HFC emissions model. He also worked on the development of a GHG inventory and Climate MRV system for the state of Sikkim and drafting of the Mizoram State Water Policy. At CESD, he is involved in issues related to a circular economy and resource efficiency. He is working on the development of Material Flow Analysis (MFA) models to identify the scope of circularity within value chains at an economy, sector and entity level.
Consultant
Consultant
Starting his professional career in 2012 with an engineering consultancy, Rabin worked as a Design Consultant providing tech advisory & project management services to his clients executing various urban metro rail projects for major cities around the world-Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Istanbul and Perth, to name a few. After working for close to five years, Rabin moved to pursue PG in Sustainable Management post which he worked for a Tier-1 Indian solar energy company managing sales to key accounts while handling business development in general. Pursuing deeper interests in the subject of sustainability, Rabin joined the Awards team at CESD. Rabin holds a PG Diploma in Sustainable Management from IIM Lucknow and a Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from Indraprastha University Delhi.
Counsellor
Counsellor
Abhinav Singh has over 10 years of experience in the renewable energy sector that encompasses regulatory affairs, commercial and business development. He holds expertise in pre-project development and project governance. He was also the team leader of the Standard and Labelling programme of Bureau of Energy Efficiency, Government of India. He is MBA in Power Management from University of Petroleum & Management Studies, Dehradun and B.Tech in mechanical engineering from Galgotias College of Engineering and Technology, Greater Noida that is affiliated to Uttar Pradesh Technical University. At CESD, he is involved in consultancy in the areas of Energy Efficiency, Integrated Management Systems and Energy Management Systems.
Executive Officer
Executive Officer
Abhishek is an experienced professional with over five years of experience in Statutory Compliances and Regulatory Reporting. Prior to joining CII, he has worked with Larsen & Toubro (L&T) where he was responsible for the preparation of Compliance documents, Contract Agreements, and reporting on Labour & Environmental regulations. During his association with L&T, he has worked with International Clients and Multilateral Institutions in the execution of government's flagship infrastructure projects spanning across Water & Sewerage Systems, Smart Cities and Airports. He holds a master's degree in Regulatory Governance from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai and a bachelor's degree in Economics from Utkal University, Bhubaneswar. At CESD, Abhishek works on Integrated Reporting, an initiative of Corporate Reporting Consortium.
Associate Counsellor
Associate Counsellor
Mohit is a multidisciplinary professional who has worked extensively on energy and climate-related issues with the goal of balancing economic growth with rising environmental concerns. Mohit received his masters from National Sustainable Energy Laboratory at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) in 2011. Before joining CESD, Mohit worked with Council on Energy Environment and Water (CEEW) and Technical University of Denmark (DTU) including brief stints at The Energy Resources Institute (TERI) and Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). At CEEW, Mohit used global economic and climate models to determine India’s greenhouse gas trajectories in domestic, transportation and industrial sectors and develop abatement curves to inform decision-makers at the Montreal Protocol in the run-up to successful amendment for phasedown of HFCs. Additionally, Mohit has worked in the allied areas of energy efficiency, national energy systems optimisation and waste/resource management. Mohit has published research with international journals including Climate policy and Climatic Change. Mohit worked briefly as a project manager in the manufacturing sector after having a degree in Chemical Engineer from National Institute of Technology in 2006. Mohit's current focus at CESD is clean air and more specifically, development of an integrated airshed management approach and clean industry charter. Most recently, he assisted four task forces under CII-NITI Aayog initiative to prepare four source-specific action plans based on the latest scientific evidence and multi-stakeholder consultations involving the Government, civil society and industry.
Executive Officer
Executive Officer
Mansi Goyal has over 6 years of experience working with a variety of industries, where she has designed and implemented sustainable Management frameworks. She has facilitated businesses to integrate sustainability into their systems and process and communicate their performance through various reporting frameworks, simultaneously building their capacities on the same.
Administration
Administration
Pawan is working with CESD Since last five years in Administration, looking after all office administration activities and supporting Events Organizing Team of CESD. He is having 8+ years of work experience in the same field. Pawan has completed his Bachelor of Arts from Himachal Pradesh University. He prefers to play Cricket and Badminton in his leisure time.
Associate Counsellor
Associate Counsellor
Taruna Idnani brings to CII 8 years of diverse experience of research and policy advocacy in the field of climate change and clean energy. She has worked on market mechanisms on climate change and clean energy, exploring low carbon interventions in various policies and schemes, implementation of various off-grid low carbon projects. She has worked to support legislators in South Asia to make well informed, targeted policy interventions in climate change. She has experience working with international organizations. A Postgraduate in Environmental Sciences and Resources Management from TERI University, she has been a recipient of DAAD Scholarship at Environmental Policy and Research Centre of Freie University (2009), Berlin. At CESD, Taruna works on building a platform to collaboratively address the pressing challenges of air pollution and finding innovative solutions. She joins us from Climate Parliament and has also worked with Inox Renewables Limited.
Consultant
Consultant
Working with a PR Firm, Sonia Dhamija has an experience of more than 3 years of managing events, workshops, training, liaison with resource persons, media, network partners. She completed her Post Graduate Diploma in Public Relations from YMCA. In CII she has joined us as a part of the Events team.
Consultant
Consultant
Aarti has completed her Bachelor of Commerce and Education from Delhi University. She has over 6 years of work experience in Organizing events, meetings, seminars, inward and outward delegations with member companies, partners, and Embassies. She was associated with CII with the International Department. At CESD, Aarti works for Centralised Marketing Team (CMT) which promotes training and helping in Sustainability Awards.
CESD is a place where people build careers in conceptualising and delivering a sustainable future for the planet. We create a place for people to develop and grow themselves as professionals with a drive to make a difference in the society. Our work calls for people with strong values and a tendency to work independently within structures of the organisation. There is space for thinkers and doers who want to be challenged and open to change.