Two big ideas towards green growth: The only viable path to development left to us

India's material consumption is expected to jump from 7.4 billion tonnes in 2015 to 15 billion tonnes in 2030. India's rate of resource extraction, which includes mining of virgin resources, is nearly three times higher than the global average. India currently imports 100% of its lithium, 90% of aluminium scrap and 40% of steel scrap. According to a TERI analysis, if we were to apply the 6R principles of a circular economy, i.e. reduce, reuse, recycle, redesign, remanufacture, refurbish, it can bring down steel and aluminium scrap imports to zero. Not only will this cut down India’s import bill, it will also lead to new enterprises carrying out new activities.