India’s spending on green IT and sustainability initiatives is expected to double from $35bn in 2010 to $70bn in 2015, according to market research firm Gartner.
The company said in its, ‘Hype Cycle for Green IT and Sustainability in India, 2011,’ that green IT and sustainability have been incorporated in the IT organisations of many industries in India. And, though still unpopular, they will soon emerge as top priorities for businesses, investors and technology professionals across industries and policymakers in India, said Gartner.
Apart from the ICT industry, other segents such as the banking and financial services, hospitality, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and other industries that have significant exposure to the export markets, will also join the green IT and sustainability trend early in India, said Gartner. However, the resaerch firm said that resource efficiency and sustainable economic development is currently still in the early stages in other industries.
Gartner research director Ganesh Ramamoorthy said India’s information and communication technology (ICT) industry will be an early adopter of green IT and sustainability offerings as India is one of the fastest-growing markets in terms of IT hardware and communications infrastructure consumption.
Ramamoorthy cntinued, "As enterprises embrace IT to improve productivity and drive growth, penetration of ICT infrastructure has been growing rapidly during the past decade, as has the energy consumption and resulting carbon emissions of India’s ICT infrastructure."
Ramamoorthy believes Indian businesses will initially start adapting offerinngs that have been tried and tested in developed nations, but tailored to the Indian market’s needs and conditions. However, the trend will not stop at that. He says that India faces uniques challenges such as an unreliable power infrastructure, a growing urban-rural divide, and increasing population migration to urban areas. Such challenges will provide Indian businesses with the opportunity to innovate and test new cost-effective approaches and green technology offerings, said Ramamoorthy. He added that the new technologies developed in India could find their way in other developing, or even developed, nations.
"While awareness of green IT and sustainability issues is very low in Indian organizations, the increasing global focus on energy efficiency, energy security, green IT and sustainability issues is now causing the executive leadership in the technology sector to track, report and manage sustainable and resource-efficient business practices," Ramamoorthy said.
"Simultaneously, the operational cost of making energy-efficient resources available is pressuring CIOs in Indian companies to develop strategies to optimize ICT utilization — including companywide energy management — while not compromising on the growth or deployment of newer technologies," Ramamoorthy said.
He added, "We are already beginning to see the use of energy-efficient technology in data centers, manufacturing facilities and public buildings in India. While home energy management solutions in residences are still in the very early stages, they are increasingly tested in newly-built urban areas and gated communities."
