This Action Plan and its preparatory and Implementation documents have been developed as part of the SWITCH-Asia SCP Facility's endeavour to strengthen the implementation of SCP policies at the national level in Asian countries. The Ministry of Railways, Government of India, requested technical assistance for translating policies into a plan of action for mainstreaming Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP), sustainable building and construction, water and waste management, in the Indian Railways (IR) system. In response to this request, a team of senior technical experts, Dr. Prasad Modak and Mr. Walter Kahlenborn, was commissioned with the development of the Action Plan and supporting documents.
As a first step of the assignment, the team developed a Scoping Study on Sustainable Public Procurement for IR and held a stakeholder consultation. Subsequently, an online Awareness Programme was organised, targeting both middle- and senior-level management engaged with procurement at IR. The programme aimed at strengthening capacities of IR's personnel and increasing awareness on SPP. The team then drafted the Policy Analysis Paper, providing an overview of SPP initiatives and experiences in India covering public and private as well as multinational organizations. Train the Trainer (ToT) sessions were also implemented, where vendors and NAIR staff were trained on SPP in four separate online sessions.
All outcomes of the above actions and documents developed, built a solid foundation for the Action Plan for SPP at Indian Railways and provide relevant input to it.
The Action Plan and Implementation Guide were presented to Indian Railways in June 2021. Prior to its implementation, a thorough review has to be conducted by IR and modifications might need to be undertaken accordingly, if needed.
