• NITI Aayog in collaboration with the European Union delegation to India have released the Strategy on Resource Efficiency at a function in the capital. 
• The report included in action plan for promoting resource efficiency in India. 
• It adds that sustainability is a global priority and SDGs commitment and 11th Five year plan clearly enunciate importance of Resource efficiency (RE). Resource Efficiency and Circular Economy are important goals and central principles for achieving sustainable development. Resource efficiency very simply put is making more with fewer materials.
• In practice, through a life-cycle approach, it leads to minimizing impact on environment & the associated societal burdens, transforming ‘waste’ into ‘resources’ fostering circular economy, and strengthening resource security. 
• This strategy is the first policy document to emphasize resource productivity in the country. 
• RE Strategy emphasizes on Sustainable Public Procurement (SSP) as an action agenda which will be the market transformation tool to transform to a resource efficient economy. 
• The document is developed with the recommendations from the Indian Resource Efficiency Programme (IREP), launched by the Indian Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and Indian Resource Panel (InRP) in April 2017.
• The work on Resource Efficiency Strategy and proposed plan of action (core and medium term) will be supported for its implementation by the European Union (EU) funded Resource Efficiency Initiative (EU-REI) led by GIZ in the consortium with TERI, CII and Adelphi. 
• NITI Aayog has provided key support in positioning this document for public consultation, and charting the way forward. 

Source:Economic Times