Jayant Sinha urges India to build green taxonomy, carbon markets, and a green financing institution

Jayant Sinha, chairman of the CII India Sustainability Taskforce and former Union minister, said India needs a green taxonomy to direct investments, functional carbon markets to price emissions, and a dedicated green financing institution to support sustainable projects. He spoke at the launch of a CII-IIMA report on India's sustainability transition, which also proposes extending sustainability reporting standards to MSMEs. Sinha rejected the idea that green goals slow growth, arguing that sustainable investment creates jobs and accelerates economic development. He called for coordinated action across regulators like SEBI and RBI, plus ministries of finance, environment, industry, and commerce. The report frames net zero as net positive for India, but the specifics of how these institutions and markets will be designed remain open questions.