3rd Climate Investments and Technology Impact Summit (CITIS 2025)
- Editorial Team
- Jan 2
- 5 min read
Grounding Climate Investment & Technology Innovation at the District Level
1. Summary
The 3rd Climate Investments and Technology Impact Summit (CITIS 2025) marked a decisive inflection point in India’s climate action architecture—shifting the focus from national ambition to district-level implementation.
Anchored in the theme “Grounding Climate Investment & Technology Innovation at the District Level,” CITIS 2025 recognised that India’s climate outcomes will ultimately be determined across its 766 districts, where water, energy, waste, agriculture and nature-based systems intersect in real-world conditions.
Key outcomes of CITIS 2025 included:
Formal initiation of the Global South Technology Acceleration Consortium (GSTAC)
Strengthening of the Environment & Technology Verification (ETV) pathway from validation to deployment
Announcement of multiple Centres of Excellence (CoEs) across water, agriculture and energy
Clear FOAK-to-NOAK pipelines across treated wastewater, sludge & biosolids, topsoil rejuvenation and biogas
Together, these outcomes position CITIS not as a dialogue platform alone, but as a delivery engine for investible, district-ready climate infrastructure.
2. Inaugural Session | Arth Ganga
The Inaugural Session, themed Arth Ganga, set the strategic foundation for treating India’s river systems—particularly the Ganga basin—as economic, ecological and climate assets.
The session emphasised that river rejuvenation and economic development must progress together, with district-level interventions across:
Treated wastewater reuse
Sludge and biosolids valorisation
Topsoil restoration
Bioenergy and biogas
Distinguished speakers highlighted the convergence of social equity, water access, decentralised energy and circular resource flows, reinforcing Arth Ganga as a framework for a resilient riverine economy.
The session was jointly steered by Sanmit Ahuja (MD & CEO, Bharatia) and Vinod Tare (Founding Head, Centre for Ganga River Basin Management and Studies), underlining the bridge between policy, science and implementation.
3. Environment & Technology Verification (ETV): From Innovation to Impact
CITIS 2025 showcased the growing maturity of India’s Environment & Technology Verification (ETV) ecosystem, with a strong pipeline of technologies spanning wastewater, sludge, circular economy, ecosystem restoration and climate solutions.
The sessions reinforced the role of ETV as a neutral, science-led integration platform, enabling credible performance validation, FOAK pilots and investor confidence—bridging innovators, regulators, financiers and practitioners.
Technology pitches ranged from early-stage innovations to field-tested systems, covering themes such as:
Biosolids risk management and nutrient recovery
Decentralised wastewater treatment technologies
Sludge dehumidification and pathogen elimination
Waste-to-value pathways including biochar and plastics-to-carbon
Lake and pond rejuvenation solutions
Digital automation for STPs, ETPs and CETPs
4. Thematic Session 1 - Creating Markets for Treated Wastewater
This session focused on transforming treated wastewater from a compliance obligation into a bankable, tradable climate asset.
Key Challenges Identified
Inconsistent influent quality and output assurance
Lack of standardised water quality benchmarks
Weak monitoring, pricing and offtake structures
Absence of district-level aggregation and reuse infrastructure
Strategic Insights
Water must be economically valued based on regional stress and demand
Municipalities must monetise treated wastewater as an asset
Telescopic pricing is essential, with industry cross-subsidising broader reuse
Decentralised treatment is critical for scale and resilience
Key Announcement
Launch of a Centre of Excellence (CoE) – Water Sector Theme 1: Market for Treated Wastewater FOAK projects will be established to build investible reuse markets at district scale.
5. Thematic Session 2 - Managing Sewage Sludge and Biosolids
As wastewater treatment capacity expands, sludge generation is accelerating. This session reframed sludge as a circular economy input, not a disposal burden.
Key Technical and Economic Barriers
High heterogeneity in sludge quality
Limited stabilisation, drying and testing infrastructure
Uncertain end-use markets and regulatory clarity
Absence of price discovery and long-term offtake
Core Messages
Sludge volumes will rise sharply with infrastructure expansion
Topsoil degradation and nutrient loss create natural demand
Quality certification at source is non-negotiable
Global best practices on safe land application must be adopted
Key Announcement
Launch of a Centre of Excellence (CoE) – Water Sector Theme 2: Sludges & Biosolids FOAK sludge-to-resource projects will anchor district-level circular markets.
6. Thematic Session 3 - Top-soil Rejuvenation
This session addressed India’s rapidly degrading soils—recognising topsoil as critical climate infrastructure underpinning food security, water retention and rural livelihoods.
Challenges Highlighted
Low organic matter and declining soil health
Limited district-level data and testing capacity
Fragmented landholdings and slow ROI for farmers
Immature markets for soil carbon and ecosystem services
Strategic Direction
Integrating compost, biochar and treated biosolids
Leveraging digital soil intelligence
Aggregation models for district-scale deployment
Key Announcement
Launch of a Centre of Excellence (CoE) – Agriculture Sector Theme 1: Topsoil Rejuvenation
FOAK pilots will underpin a future National Topsoil Rejuvenation Mission.
7. Thematic Session 4 - Enabling the Biogas Economy
The biogas session examined pathways to unlock a district-level bioenergy ecosystem, converting organic waste into clean energy, bio-CNG and soil enhancers.
Key Constraints
Feedstock variability and weak pre-processing
High capex and uncertain revenues
Limited offtake, grid integration and certification
Under-monetisation of digestate
Strategic Perspectives
Quasi-regulated feedstock systems
Biorefinery models for fractional value extraction
Integration with carbon markets and ITMOs
Infrastructure aggregation through innovative finance models
Key Announcement
Launch of a Centre of Excellence (CoE) – Energy Sector Theme 1: Biogas
FOAK projects will catalyse scalable, investible biogas markets.
8. From Dialogue to Delivery: Launch of GSTAC
A defining milestone of CITIS 2025 was the formal initiation of the Global South Technology Acceleration Consortium (GSTAC) (working name).
GSTAC’s Mandate
GSTAC is designed to hyper-accelerate advanced technologies across the Global South by moving decisively from innovation to scaled implementation.
Three Core Pillars
Technology Sourcing & Indigenisation Adapting global technologies for emerging-market conditions—scale, affordability, resilience and operability.
FOAK Demonstration in India Using India as a real-world laboratory to de-risk technologies under operational constraints.
NOAK Scaling Across the Global South Structured replication through institutional, financial and policy pathways.
Genesis and Institutional Backbone
GSTAC builds on the ETV programme led by cGanga, with Samarth Ganga Foundation (also known as Bharatia) providing dedicated implementation capacity under a long-term MoU.
SITE Networks
GSTAC deployment is channelled through SITE Networks (Science, Innovation, Technology & Economics), with corridors already active across multiple European and Nordic partners, and further expansions planned.
Closing Note
CITIS 2025 demonstrated that districts are the true theatres of climate action. By aligning technology validation, FOAK deployment, NOAK scaling and institutional capital, the Summit laid the foundations for Climate Action 2.0—measurable, bankable and grounded in India’s real economy.
From pilots to platforms. From districts to global impact.
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