NHAI’s First Sustainability Report

Context:

NHAI has published its First Sustainability Report for the FY 2021-22, which sheds light on the organization’s governance structure, stakeholders, environmental initiatives, and social responsibility efforts. The report aligns with the guidelines set by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and is expected to facilitate the attraction of “Green Finance” for infrastructure financing.

Relevance:

GS III: Infrastructure

Dimensions of the Article:

1. Key Findings of the Report
2. About Global Reporting Initiative
3. About National Highways Authority of India (NHAI)

Key Findings of the Report:

• Digitization of highway network: NHAI has developed the ‘Data Lake Tool’ to digitize the highway network in India, enabling effective management of the vast amount of data generated by NHAI’s infrastructure.
• Reduction in emissions and fuel consumption: NHAI has achieved a reduction of 18.44% in direct emissions and 9.49% in fuel consumption from FY 2019-20 to 2021-22.
• Decline in GHG emissions: Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from energy consumption, operations, transport, and travel witnessed a decline of 9.7% in FY 2020-21 and 2% in FY 2021-22.
• Use of recycled materials: NHAI has been using recycled materials such as fly-ash, plastic waste, recycled asphalt (RAP), and recycled aggregates (RA) for national highway construction.
• Wildlife protection and conservation: Over 100 wildlife crossings have been created in three years across 20 states to reduce man-animal conflicts and ensure wildlife protection and conservation.
• Eco-friendly national highways: NHAI has undertaken plantation drives and planted approximately 2.74 crore saplings till 2021-22 to develop eco-friendly national highways and offset direct emissions from vehicles.
• Increase in women employment and employment of marginalized communities: NHAI has observed a steady increase in female hiring by 7.4% and an overall increase of 3% in the employment of marginalized communities over the last three years.

About Global Reporting Initiative

• The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is an independent, international organization that supports businesses and organizations in taking responsibility for their environmental, social, and governance impacts.
• GRI provides a framework and guidelines for companies and organizations to report on their economic, environmental, social, and governance performance.
• By using the GRI framework, organizations can measure and disclose their sustainability efforts and performance.
• The GRI Secretariat is based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and works with various stakeholders to promote transparency and sustainability reporting worldwide.

About National Highways Authority of India (NHAI):

NHAI is the premier organization in India responsible for the development, maintenance, and management of National Highways. Here are some key facts about NHAI:

• NHAI was established in February 1995 under the National Highways Authority of India Act, 1988.
• It is a statutory body under the administrative control of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
• NHAI consists of a full-time Chairman and not more than five full-time members and four part-time members who are appointed by the Central Government.
• The part-time members are the Secretary (RT&H), Secretary (Expenditure), Secretary (Planning), and DG (RD) & SS.
• NHAI has several wings at its headquarters, including technical, finance, administrative, and vigilance wings.

-Source: Indian Express