awareness creations which are the need of the hour and advised him to work closely with his department by suggesting short-term and long-term vision for the state towards environmental sustainability. Sushil Mohta, Chairman, IGBC Kolkata in his opening remarks highlighted several accomplishments of IGBC over the last two decades, and how Kolkata has emerged as the leading city in the country in terms of the number of green building projects going green. He mentioned IGBC efforts have resulted in India achieving 10.27 Billion Sq.ft of registered Green footprint from more than 10,900 projects across India. This has facilitated India in becoming the 2nd country in the world in terms of the largest registered green building footprint. IGBC has demonstrated a clear business case for green buildings. The Chief Guest, Debashis Sen, IAS (Retd.), Managing Director, West Bengal Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd. Highlighted various initiatives of HIDCO, New Town Development Authority which encouraged green building construction and has been pivotal in introducing and implementing the green building policies which have resulted in a surge in the green construction in Kolkata. He also highlighted some of the major initiatives which are being planned at New Town related to revamping the infrastructures to support cycling, EV charging etc. He urged that besides the government, the conscious efforts of all the citizens are key to creating a better place to live, work and commute. The members of Rotary Clubs, Sukanya Dasgupta and Ravindra Sehgal also addressed the gathering with their key insights and highlighted the importance of a sustainable and healthy lifestyle. Apurva Salarpuria, Vice President, CREDAI Bengal also addressed at the programme and highlighted many key contributors to the green building construction practices. M Anand in his presentation showed a comprehensive overview of the Indian Green Building Council's programmes and initiatives. He elaborated on the need for green and net zero buildings, the impact created by 31 holistic IGBC rating systems for various buildings and built environment types, government incentives to green-rated projects by various state govt, landmark green projects from Kolkata, West Bengal also showed in his deliberations. The seminar further continued with the technical presentation on glasses for green buildings, water monitoring and saving, acoustics for large buildings, and ESG in real estate. The session was well attended by 200 delegates from various walks of the building industry and many from other sectors.