Mining is a temporary activity which involves intermediate use of land. Typically, the operating life of a mine lasts from a few years to several decades, depending upon the natural environment such as weather, soil and quality, excavation of resources mined through the mining, use and availability of land.

The coal sector remains the most inefficient and least open to private investment, despite coal being the country´s primary source of fuel, says Krrishan Singhania, Managing Partner, Singhania Associates.

In the early 1970s, the Government of India took over the management of coal mines in two tranches. The process kick-started with the nationalisation of coking coal mines in 1971-72, followed by non-coking coal mines the following year. With the enactment of the Coal Mines Act, 1973, all mines were nationalised.

India will need $1.5 trillion of investment in infrastructure over the next 10 years. Of this nearly $10 billion is required in sewage treatment plants. Similarly, about $8 billion is required to be invested in ensuring regular drinking water supply.

In the mid-2000s, Walmart was in for a shock when it was informed that its maximum carbon emissions were not from its supply trucks, but refrigerators placed inside stores. Storage of ice cream and other frozen foods in open shelves was resulting in higher energy consumption as they were required to be cooled at higher temperatures.

India is at a very interesting and crucial moment right now. The Indian government has stimulated a lot of activity involving infrastructure development such as the Smart Cities programme and the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor.

Though Public-Private Partnership contracts are the mainstay of infra projects, evidence of PPP performance in terms of value-for-money and efficiency is mixed and often unavailable, says Sangeeta Lakhi, Senior Partner, Rajani Associates.

The Indian infrastructure story is at an interesting crossroad. On the one hand, being the world´s fastest growing major economy, India needs to create fresh capacity in its infrastructure to maintain the growth momentum.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) holds the potential to improve India´s energy efficiency by enabling more efficient long-haul transportation across India. He was speaking after inaugurating the Petrotech 2016 conference on December 5, 2016, in New Delhi where he added, ´At the moment, the piped natural gas network in India is 15,000 km in length.