The green initiative: Will be or Won't be!

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Gone are the days when IT product partners perceived green technology as vague in the Indian context.

Thanks to the 'green talk.' As the vendors are largely turning towards 'Green', the traditional box pushers including distribution partners and resellers see it as a value proposition. With initiatives from the MAIT, GTZ and Greenpeace, the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) has prepared a litigation draft on e-waste and recently put it in the public domain for suggestions. These rules shall apply on all the manufacturers, dealers and importers. According to the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), the producers of electrical or electronic equipment shall be responsible for their branded products. In addition, the vendors shall be responsible to provide information to consumers to return equipment only through their authorized collection centers. .

The DQ Week contacted various partners to know their perception of 'Green' as their USP. DP Sinha, CEO, Graphline Computers said that they are ordering a large amount of green desktops these days. "Almost all the vendors are manufacturing green desktops and they only charge Rs 60 to 70 additional. These PCs come with auto sensing built within their power management system which facilitates energy saving," said Sinha.

Manoj Gupta, CEO, Challenger Computers remarked that there are a lot of companies which are into green initiatives. "LG has recently started $18 billion program to 'Go Green' and is expected to reduce its own emissions by 40 percent on current levels by 2020. Canon has also tied up with a recycling company for used printers and we will provide support to regulate e-waste for its printer's division," said Gupta.

Puneet Singhal, CEO, Pioneer Enterprises opined, "The technology is changing and new products are being launched, but unfortunately the obsolete ones are being dumped. The word 'Green' has become their USP but there should be a proper recycling program in place to regulate e-waste.”

Rajiv Kumar, CEO, Proactive Data Systems said, “IT managers have now become conscious and are looking for energy-efficient products and solutions. Datacenters are the biggest source of carbon emission today and Cisco has really come up with a new range of catalyst switches that can save a lot of energy with EnergyWise technology." According to Kumar, other IT product vendors have also started to introduce products with a focus to save power.