Sustainable Public Procurement in India: Selection of Priority Products and Preliminary Market Assessment

Sustainable procurement is a process whereby public sector meets its needs for goods, services, works and utilities in a way that achieves value for money on a whole life-cycle basis in terms of generating benefits not only to the organization, but also to society, whilst significantly reducing negative impacts on the environment (UNEP, 2015). In India, a large population, rapid urbanization and expanding industrial production have led to overexploitation of available limited natural resources. Concerns regarding resource depletion and future availability have become more pronounced. Also, the environmental burdens due to resource extraction, utilization and disposal, including land degradation, biodiversity loss, as well as air and water pollution are of great concern. Enhancing resource efficiency (RE) and promoting the use of secondary raw materials (SRM) are strategies that can address these challenges by reducing the need for primary resources. SPP can play a large role in driving resource efficiency in the country and thereby reduce the need of primary resources.