Our Theory of Change

Build Ahead is an industry-first cross value chain coalition comprising forward-leaning businesses aimed at catalysing sustainability in the built environment in India. Through collective action and collaboration, the coalition drives long-term market transformation to scale adoption of low-carbon building materials.

From more efficient operations to regenerative business models: Redefining leadership for a complex world

Engaged collaborators

The built environment spans producers, developers, financiers, regulators and buyers across cement, concrete, glass, steel, aluminium, blocks, paints and tiles. Progress requires collaboration on shared commitments.

Systemic solutions

Building materials need systemic shifts, not point solutions. A greener plant or a single green building won't move a sector this large. Demand, finance, standards and technology are interlocked and have to be unblocked together.

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Aligned Priorities

Aligned priorities

The technologies exist. Deployment is the gap. Low-carbon cement, green steel, recycled aggregates, secondary aluminium, low-carbon glass and sustainable finishes are market-ready today, yet adoption in India remains marginal.

Create impetus

The next decade locks in the next 40 years. India's building material demand will multiply as the country urbanises. The plants, codes and supply chains shaped now will define emissions for decades making this window decisive.

Create Impetus

India’s Built Environment Challenge

  • 73%
  • Share of the building stock that will exist in India in 2050 yet to be built. The materials, codes and supply chains chosen now will define embodied carbon for the next 40 years.
  • 2x by 2050
  • Expected doubling of India's built floor space, with over 35 billion sq ft of new construction projected by 2050, equivalent to building today's entire stock all over again.
  • $70-80bn
  • Projected size of India's green building materials market by 2030, growing at 10–12% CAGR a commercial opportunity, not just a compliance cost.

Thought Leadership and Reports

Insights that are generating positive impact for communities, businesses, the environment and individuals.

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Our Areas of Work

Five working groups, working together, to achieve a net-zero built environment via innovation in the cement and steel sectors.

  • Develop pilots to act as proof points for developing a net-zero embodied carbon building, and increase awareness about the importance of reducing embodied carbon for net-zero construction.

  1. The construction industry stands at a pivotal moment where corporate leadership must drive the transition to green building materials. As we face the challenge of reducing embodied emissions, it's not enough to simply develop innovative solutions; we must create pathways for their widespread adoption. My experience in the cement and steel sectors has shown me that meaningful change happens when industry players collaborate to scale innovations from pilot projects to market reality. At Build Ahead, we're committed to bridging this gap between innovation and implementation, ensuring that low-carbon materials become the standard rather than the exception in India's built environment.

    • Manoj Kumar Rustagi
    • Chief Sustainability and Innovation Officer
    • JSW Cement (and Chairperson, Build Ahead)

  2. The Build Ahead coalition is a valuable step towards
    ecosystem level consideration of embodied carbon; it also resonates with our ongoing decarbonisation efforts, where we are taking leadership by focussing not only on our operations and products, but we also plan to offer decarbonisation templates that can be followed
    by the industry at large.

    • Aun Abdullah
    • Deputy Vice President - Design and Head - ESG
    • Lodha

  3. We are extremely proud to be a part of Build Ahead to help support the transition towards India achieving a low-carbon future. With the coalition, through collaboration with other partners, we will be able to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of the built environment and support the Prime Minister’s pledge of net-zero emissions for India by 2070.

    • Sandeep Sethi
    • Managing Director
    • Work Dynamics – West Asia, JLL

  4. JSW Cement is strongly committed to achieving sustainability across all of its operations. In fact, our product has the lowest carbon emission intensity in the world. In our effort to accelerate our progress on the decarbonisation journey, we are excited to join Xynteo's 'Build Ahead' coalition and work with other business leaders who also share a goal of a carbon-neutral future. Through this collaboration, we will further contribute to India’s rapid growth, that too in a sustainable way.

    • Parth Jindal
    • Managing Director
    • JSW Cement

  5. The Build Ahead coalition initiative by Xynteo, to help decarbonise the construction materials sector in India, aligns well with our organisation’s commitment towards ‘Environment Stewardship’, and our strategy of promoting ‘Good & Green’ products and solutions. At Godrej Construction, we are keen to learn from the global best sustainability practices adopted by leading organisations. We are also glad to share our knowledge and best practices about sustainable development with others in the Construction and Real Estate industry, as it would help us accelerate our industry’s journey towards Net Zero built environment.

    • Anup Mathew
    • Senior Vice President & Business Head
    • Godrej Construction

  6. SED Fund is very happy to support the Build Ahead Coalition by  Xynteo and other partners in creating a platform for systemic collaboration and action geared towards accelerating the adoption of low carbon building materials, and to scale existing efforts of decarbonising industrial sectors.

    • Vikas Mehta
    • Executive Director
    • SED Fund
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Ecosystem Partners

  • Godrej Construction
  • JLL Logo
  • JSW Cement The Leaders Choice
  • Lodha Logo
  • Saint Gobain Logo
  • SED Logo
  • UltraTech Cement

Contact us

Build Ahead

Suman Jagdev

Programme Director, Build Ahead and Partner, Xynteo

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