the last few decades have seen us embark on a great period of transformation brought about by the significant contributions of what we have come to call the information communications and technology ict industry in india alone it has helped spawn a huge industry that has elevated us to the global map improved standards of living helped our people transcend geographical barriers and spurred innovation more than a decade into the 2 1st century the spawning of another industry born out of an impending resource crisis seems imminent sustainability offers immense opportunities for innovation and growth but most importantly it is heading in a direction that allows us to morph business with sustainable economic development and societal interest hitherto considered a euphemism in only 40 years from now the current population will increase by 30 thereby accentuating the problems of constantly shrinking resources and deteriorating environmental conditions that we will be forced to reckon with successful organizations then will be those whose core business is aligned to tackle global and local challenges those that seek opportunity in the delayed or ineffective decision making process by governments owing to constraints of a dynamic and often volatile geopolitical situation where power play of national interest influences their decisionmaking functions business as usual or business unusual in an era that will be dominated by businesses that are sustainable i will bet on the latter business protocols in the new normal will have to be altered necessitating ingenuity in product and services approachto stakeholders and operations this endeavour will then spur innovations in design tweak operational efficiency and change behavior and consumption patterns all of which will find a place in the solution to the sustainability puzzle business leaders will find a significant share of these opportunities by tapping into the fast growing middle class which will grow from some 17 billion people today to 36 billion by 2030 with most of this growth in the emerging economies when they are treated as an economicallyresilient segment comprising creative entrepreneurs and valuedemanding consumers affordable products and services are bound to emerge introspection by businesses with utmost sensitiveness to the environment is the need of the hour the surge in sectors like real estate automotive infrastructure retail is here to stay for a while in a growing market like india those in these sectors can view the play as opportunistic or as a way of establishing sustainable and endurable enterprises the challenge and the excitement in businesses of the future will revolve around meeting humandemands within ecological constraints we are not too far away from a time when sustainability will transcend into a way of life and sustainable solutions will get competitive imagine a carbon neutral industry allowing entrepreneurs to establish green utilities and present consumers with an opportunity to buy green power imagine future architecture pitched on high performance powered by cuttingedge technology led lights and radiant cooling systems which will consume only 50 of the current energy imagine that harvesting and recycling of