Kashi Samvaad 2025: Varanasi Summit to Spotlight Clean India, Green India and Circular Economy Solutions

The session will explore innovations in recycling, decentralised waste-processing systems, and the progress of the Swachh Bharat Mission, which has enabled nearly 80% sustainable urban waste treatment across the country. File Photo.

Kashi Samvaad 2025 is set to take place on 21–22 November 2025 at BHU, Varanasi. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Banaras Hindu University (BHU) are jointly organising this major development-focused dialogue. According to a report in the Times of India, the theme of the summit is “Towards Viksit Bharat”, with a strong emphasis on inclusive growth and sustainable development.

The two-day event is focused on four central pillars — “youth, women, farmers, and the poor”. It reflects India’s mission to ensure that social development reaches its most critical demographic groups. Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Anupriya Patel and Uttar Pradesh Minister for Social Welfare Asim Arun will lead the inauguration, signalling strong government backing for this initiative.

One of the key sessions of the summit is focused on Clean India, Green India, and waste management. This topic is of utmost national importance as India accelerates its shift toward a circular economy. According to the session brief, India’s circular-economy transition carries the potential to unlock a USD 2 trillion market opportunity and create 10 million jobs by 2050. The session will explore innovations in recycling, decentralised waste-processing systems, and the progress of the Swachh Bharat Mission, which has enabled nearly 80% sustainable urban waste treatment across the country.

The moderator of the discussion will be Sudhir Mishra, Resident Editor of Navbharat Times, Lucknow. Speakers include Prof. Jitendra Pandey of BHU, Dr Ruby Makhija of the Why Waste Wednesdays Foundation, Srinivas Krishnaswamy, CEO of Vasudha Foundation, and Rajni Pandey, Deputy General Manager at the Bankers Institute of Rural Development. Their collective expertise brings perspectives from different fields such as academia, grassroots innovation, climate action, and rural development.

Kashi Samvaad 2025 aims to act as a catalyst for sustainable progress by convening policymakers, corporate leaders, researchers, and civil society. According to organisers as quoted by the Times of India, the summit seeks to build long-term partnerships that support India’s vision of becoming a Viksit Bharat by 2047, with Varanasi emerging as a hub of collaborative development and social transformation.