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Green Municipal Bonds

Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation in Uttar Pradesh has become the first in India to issue a certified Green Municipal Bond under the Swachh Bharat Mission–Urban to promote sustainable water management.

About Green Bond:
- Green bonds are debt instruments used to raise funds for green projects , particularly in areas such as renewable energy, clean transportation, sustainable water management , etc.
  - A bond, which is a fixed income instrument, represents a loan made by an investor to a borrower (usually a corporate or governmental).
  - Traditional bonds (other than green bonds) pay a fixed interest rate (coupon) to investors.
- Green bonds enhance the reputation of the issuer, as it helps demonstrate their commitment to sustainable development.
Ghaziabad’s Success:
- Ghaziabad raised Rs 150 crore via India’s first Green Municipal Bond.
- The funds built a modern tertiary sewage treatment plant (TSTP).
- The project runs on a PPP-HAM model with 40% civic investment.
- The bond's success boosted investor trust in urban local bodies.
- Ghaziabad won the 2024–25 Best Municipal Treated Water Award.

Introduction:
- Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U) was launched on 2 October 2014 by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs as a national campaign to promote cleanliness, hygiene and proper waste management in urban areas.
- Its objective is to make the cities and towns across India clean and free from open defecation .
Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 1.0:
- The first phase of SBM-U focused on achieving the goal of making urban India open defecation free by providing access to toilets and promoting behavior change.
- SBM-U 1.0 was successful in achieving its target and 100% of urban India was declared ODF .
Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 (2021-2026):
- SBM-U 2.0, announced in the Budget for 2021-22, is a continuation of the first phase of the same scheme.
- Its second phase aims to move towards the goals of ODF as well as ODF+ and ODF++ and focuses on making urban India garbage-free .
- It emphasizes on promoting sustainable sanitation practices, waste management and a circular economy.

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The Uttar Pradesh government is set to approve the Leather and Footwear Policy-2025.

About the Policy:
- Objective:
  - To increase production capacity.
  - Encouraging exports and enhancing global brand presence.
  - To make the state economically strong by increasing revenue. To realize the vision of making Uttar Pradesh an "enterprise state".
- Strategic Initiatives:
  - Kanpur will be given a central role in this regional development strategy.
  - This will boost regional development in cities like Agra, Kanpur, Unnao , Lucknow and Bareilly .
- Promotion of private industrial parks:
  - Incentives such as capital subsidy and 100% per cent stamp duty exemption to private investors .
  - It is mandatory to develop all parks within 5 years .
  - At least 25% of the land must be reserved for green and open areas.
  - Each entity (plant, cluster or park) will have to make a minimum investment of Rs 150-200 crore .
  - One unit is likely to generate 1,000 to 3,000 employment opportunities.
Current Scenario:
- Uttar Pradesh has a 46% share in the total leather exported from India .
- Agra is considered the footwear capital and Kanpur, the global hub for safety footwear and leather goods.
Importance:
- This policy will help Uttar Pradesh to emerge as an industrial hub in line with the “Make in India” and “Local to Global” initiatives .

Introduction:
- Launched in 2014, Make in India aims to transform the country into a leading global manufacturing and investment destination .
- This campaign was launched to facilitate investments, promote innovation and skill development, protect intellectual property and build best-in-class manufacturing infrastructure.
Goal:
- To increase the growth rate of the manufacturing sector to 12-14% per annum.
- To create 100 million additional manufacturing jobs by 2022 (revised date 2025).
- To increase the contribution of the manufacturing sector to GDP to 25% by the year 2025.

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The Uttar Pradesh government launched a campaign against illegal encroachment in the districts along the India-Nepal border between 25-27 April 2025 .

About the Campaign:
- Its objective is to remove illegal constructions and strengthen the security system in the India-Nepal border area.
- Under this illegal structures located within a radius of 0 to 15 kilometres from the border were identified and removed.
- The government took action against unrecognized madrasas, mosques, and other religious structures.
- The campaign was actively conducted in the districts of Lakhimpur Kheri, Shravasti, Siddharthnagar, Maharajganj, Bahraich, Balrampur and Pilibhit bordering Nepal