India’s sustainability ambitions are rising fast, but the real challenge is turning bold national goals into measurable impact at the grassroots.

For Dr. Hafeezur Rehman, director of the School of Sustainability at Gujarat-based NAMTECH — an ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel education initiative — that means preparing a generation of engineers and professionals who can embed sustainability into the heart of business and industry.

In an insightful interview with Nirmal Menon, Rehman explains how NAMTECH’s blend of conventional wisdom, advanced technology and industry collaboration is creating leaders ready to drive climate action, social inclusion and economic resilience.

Excerpts:

NM: What would you say are the most pressing challenges India faces today, particularly in translating national sustainability goals into measurable ground-level impact?

HR: India is emerging as a global leader in the sustainability movement. We are advancing on multiple fronts, most notably in the accelerated expansion of renewable energy, where India now ranks as the world’s third-largest generator of wind and solar power.

Given our population, the core challenge lies in scale. In India, every solution must work at a magnitude that equals several countries combined, sometimes even entire continents. There is no shortage of innovative ideas. Many have already been piloted successfully.

The next step is to cultivate the right mindset and create robust business models that can take these solutions to a much wider spectrum of stakeholders. This is where the true test of our sustainability leadership lies.

NM: The School of Sustainability is emerging at a time when the demand for climate and ESG professionals is surging. What will be your core strategy in ensuring the curriculum and pedagogy meet both academic rigor and market relevance?

HR: Beyond access to cutting-edge technology, NAMTECH’s greatest strength lies in its platform approach, anchored in a powerful network of industry leaders and academic institutions.

The curriculum is co-created with industry professionals, then sharpened and validated through academic rigor by a cross-institutional consortium of experts. To further strengthen this ecosystem, a global advisory board has been established to provide continuous guidance on curriculum and pedagogy.

This deep integration of academia and industry is brought to life through immersive learning experiences, ranging from industry internships and academic collaborations to year-long capstone projects. Together, these form the bedrock of NAMTECH’s experiential, future-forward pedagogy.

NM: What strengths do you think the School of Sustainability offers in the Industry 4.0 landscape, and how do you plan to cultivate them further?

HR: NAMTECH’s school is forging a bold path through uncharted territory, uniquely positioned within a technologically advanced, industry-driven ecosystem of experiential education.

Its guiding philosophy, “looking back to think ahead,” draws deeply from India’s timeless values – frugality, circularity, nature-based living and universal brotherhood. These are not just cultural touchstones but are actively woven into the fabric of modern technology education to nurture the next generation of conscious innovators.

Building on this foundation of value-based learning, the school is developing immersive programs and innovation studios that blend traditional wisdom with cutting-edge tools. The goal is to shape sustainability champions equipped to lead with both purpose and precision.

NM: Considering that climate change disproportionately impacts marginalized communities, how would you actively ensure the school’s research and outreach initiatives are inclusive and directly address these existing inequalities?

HR: In the broader sustainability landscape, large industries often have the means and resources to embed sustainability into their core operations. The MSME sector, which often operates on the margins, requires targeted support to integrate sustainability into its mainstream business practices.

NAMTECH’s skilling initiatives are specifically designed to empower these enterprises with future-ready capabilities. At the grassroots level, NAMTECH’s social outreach program focuses on marginalised communities and the bottom-of-the-pyramid workforce. The goal is to enable their inclusion in the advanced technology-driven manufacturing and infrastructure ecosystem.

Using a hub-and-spoke model, this program is already making a measurable impact through pilot initiatives across select districts in Gujarat, offering a scalable model for inclusive, tech-enabled growth.

NM: India’s ESG reporting landscape has evolved rapidly, particularly with SEBI’s mandates on Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting. However, many companies merely list CSR activities in their ESG reports without aligning them with their materiality assessment. How can Indian boardrooms move beyond compliance to build a truly values-driven ESG culture?

HR: To foster a genuine ESG culture, companies must embed sustainability into the heart of their business and profit models rather than treating it as a standalone initiative.

A practical way forward is to adopt a disaggregated life-cycle assessment starting from raw material inputs and evaluating each component and process, both individually and collectively.

This data-driven approach can then determine finance- and economics-based innovation pathways, ensuring sustainability becomes a driver of competitiveness and growth, rather than a compliance requirement.

NM: Finally, what does success look like to you in the next five years for NAMTECH’s School of Sustainability? What kind of impact would you like to see on students, industry, and India’s broader climate and ESG landscape?

HR: Success will be defined by graduating at least 10,000 conscious engineers who would be the flag bearers of an accelerated, sustainable approach to manufacturing and infrastructure development.

Through NAMTECH’s platform model, the goal is also to reach thousands of working professionals, enabling their upskilling and training in sustainability-focused education. The real impact will be visible in a measurable shift in mindset where sustainability becomes an integral part of business thinking and operational ethos.

Moreover, our Sustainability Engineering and Management Program uniquely combines the technology-driven innovations of NAMTECH’s various schools with the sustainability pathways essential for industry. This technological focus is balanced by equal emphasis on systems thinking, financial models, regulatory requirements, and the enabling policy environment.