MAITREE is supporting “Sustainable Public Procurement” (SPP) initiative of the Government of India in partnership with UNEP.  As a part of this effort, MAITREE developed the overall sustainability framework for SPP, as well as the specifications of “Green Air Conditioners” which are energy efficient and environment friendly. Government of India launched “Green Room Air Conditioner” as a pilot for public procurement on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM). GeM is an online platform, established by the Ministry of Commerce in 2016, for all central and state government entities to procure goods and services.

The launch was done by Mr. Anup Wadhawan, Secretary, Ministry of Commerce and Mr. Jigmet Takpa, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in the presence of Mr. Prashant Kumar, CEO (GeM); Mr. Saurabh Kumar, Executive Vice Chairperson (EESL); Mr. Prakash Mirani, Joint Secretary and Additional CEO (GeM); Mr. Aaron Bishop, Acting Deputy Mission Director for USAID/India and Mr. Atul Bagai, Country Head (UNEP India).

Mr. Aaron Bishop, Acting Deputy Mission Director for USAID India gave opening remarks and address on “Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP) for Market Transformation”. Mr. Tanmay Tathagat, MAITREE program lead gave an overview on the approach adopted for development of the sustainable public procurement specifications for green room air conditioners.

Last year, the GeM portal saw sales of over 44,000 air conditioners worth Rs 1.7 billion, and it continues to grow. Green room air conditioners are 25% more efficient than the highest (5-Star) rated products and use environment friendly refrigerants for a lower life-cycle environmental impact.  Government procurement of Green RACs will not only reduce energy use and cost for public entities, but also support market transformation effort, benefiting all consumers.

Link to GeM portal – https://gem.gov.in/green-ac

Resources

Green RAC Brochure