Public demand for creating infrastructure for environment protection is increasing in India. For the first time in the history of Independent India, several thousands of crores of rupees have been allocated for improvement of environment and human life in cities and towns under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). The areas of investment include, among other things, management of domestic solid wastes and other wastes; sewage collection, treatment and disposal; prevention and control of water pollution of lakes, rivers and coastal areas, urban air pollution control, traffic management, green buildings, development of green areas etc. The program implementation is being done jointly by the Central and State Governments.

Central Government in the Ministry of Environment & Forests and other sectoral ministries have allocations of funds for infrastructure development for environmental protection, retrofitting, cleaner technology applications, waste minimization and energy conservation, rain water harvesting and water conservation, soil conservation and aforestation, waste land reclamation and/or remediation, cleanup of contaminated sites of waste dumps, monitoring of environmental quality, capacity building etc.

Financial institutions from India and outside as well as technology providers are seen to be keenly interestedin favour of investment in the projects on providing goods and services for environment protection in India based on public-private-partnership. The procurement processes conducted by the Government are in a transparent manner in public domain. Equal opportunities are available for local and foreign bidders as per free market policy and India’s commitments to various multilateral environmental and trade agreements.

Proliferation of curriculum and academic institutions in India dealing with environmental education, training and research are the source of supply of skilled manpower and human resources required for program planning and implementation.

The gap between demand and supply for environmental protection and development is enormous. This sector can steadily grow more at the rate of 10 to 15 % per year in next two to three decades.

While there is rosy picture of investment and development of environmental infrastructure in India, there is dark side as well. The investment and procurement decisions are generally vendor driven. Once the environmental performance standards are laid down, the regulatory agencies practically do not play any role in selection or harmonizing the technology requirements suitable to the local needs and goals of sustainable development.

There is no bench-marking of technology requirements done by the regulatory agencies. Bid conditions are not harmonized with the need for environment protection. Enough emphasis is not given on technology performance and its capital costs and operative costs. Bid conditions by procurement agencies differ widely and that too without environmental considerations.

As a result of mismatch between the supply of environmental goods and services and local requirements of environmental protection, one can see continued deterioration of environment and public health especially in urban areas. Rivers are polluted. Coastal areas are polluted. Ground water is contaminated. Air is unhealthy to breathe. Cities over flow with domestic and other wastes.Wider prevalence of asthma and other respiratory disorders among the children in cities. The cities have become un-livable to say the least.

This note is prepared in an effort to indentify the areas of specific technology requirements and investment needs for environment protection and achieving the goals of sustainable development. This is based on the perception of the author having decades of high level experience in the field of environment protection and no claim is made to the fullness of requirements raised as above which are so diverse and wide. It is felt important to flag the issues and provoke healthy discussion (and brain storming) in public interest and promote sustainable investment for environment protection.

Following areas are covered to identify the specific requirements of technology and needs for investments:

1.		Domestic Wastewater Treatment
2.		Collection and Transport of MSW
3.		Treatment and Disposal of MSW
4.		Collection and Transport of Biomedical wastes
5.		Treatment and Disposal of Biomedical wastes
6.		Collection and Transport of Electronic waste
7.		Treatment and Disposal of electronic wastes
8.		Lake Conservation
9.		Remediation of contaminated sites
10.		Clean-up of dump sites
11.		Waste Minimisation and recycling
12.		Green Buildings
13.		Community noise control
14.		Development of Green Belts