Investment climate assessment for circular bioeconomy sector in India: an assessment of the institutions, policies, regulations and financial environment

To tackle overexploitation of resources, pollution and related health issues, there has been an increase in policies, laws, and programmes that emphasize the importance of treatment, recycling, and reuse over the years. Various attempts have been made at various scales for resources recovery and reuse (RRR) interventions with varying degrees of completion and success. With limitations of the public sector, engagement of the private parties is believed to enhance circular economic approaches in future. This report is an attempt to assess the existing institutional, policy, regulatory and financial environment in which the RRR businesses operate in India. It begins with a brief introduction of India’s take and position in terms of sustainability followed by an overview of the regulatory environment. The regulatory environment covers some of the important acts and rules concerning wastewater, energy and nutrients. The policies and programme section talks about some of the major policies that are being run by the central government in the country. The subsequent section talks about the key institutions involved in the national level for the major sectors being covered in the report. This discussion is followed by description of the financial environment. The section describes the major government-run financial assistance and subsidies in the RRR domain. It also talks about the various monetary incentives offered by the government for the promotion of MSMEs in the country along with their general access to debt. The report also lists some of the key drivers that are involved in the RRR sectors differentiated by various parameters such as policy, regulatory and financials and others, followed by a conclusion.