ABSTRACT

India emerged as an economically stronger country with its economic liberalization in 1991. India has sustained its gross domestic product (GDP) and has been successfully resilient against domestic and global turbulences resulting from climatic onslaughts, such as droughts and floods, the global financial crisis, and volatile crude oil prices. However, increased economic activities, a rapidly rising population, and robust urbanization has made India the second largest urban system in the world. This has posed acute challenges in its urban centres, putting pressure on energy, water, land, and other basic amenities, such as housing, impacting the livelihood of urban dwellers. To deal with these challenges, the Government of India has launched three mega urban sector programs in June 25, 2015, namely, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), Smart Cities Mission (SCM), and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), previously known as “Housing for All,” which are mapped under Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs)–11 on “Making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.” In all these missions, the housing sector’s role is central to the development of urban transformation process, wherein green building can play a pivotal role. Thus, the chapter, while elaborating these initiatives on urban transformation, explores the key role of green buildings in these missions and the impact of policy measures taken by the government towards green building growth.