Composite Green Rating System for Enhancing Rural Area with Infrastructure, Environmental, and Sustainable Development Predicting Risk Analysis

Rural development requires interaction among many social, economic, and environmental factors along a growth trajectory significantly different from that which occurs in cities. In fact, rural territories very often present some critical limitations, such as scarce services, scattered distribution of resources, and greater vulnerability to environmental changes. With this in mind, sustainable development strategies must balance necessary infrastructure support with responsible resource management. The present study aims to proffer a CGRS that can be employed for the assessment and comparison of the sustainability of rural settlements using a set of structured and clearly definable environmental, infrastructural, and socio-economic indicators. The framework integrates sustainability evaluation with elements of risk assessment, with particular attention to the role of renewable energy use in village-level development. Field surveys were conducted in three villages of Sangli district, Maharashtra, representing diverse ecological and developmental conditions: Padmale (riverine), Bilashi (hilly), and Dorli (arid). The results showed that Bilashi had the highest score for CGRS, 2.69, closely followed by Padmale, 2.68, indicating only moderate variations in the sustainability performance of these villages. Dorli scored comparatively lower, 2.64, mainly because of its poor water-quality management and limited adoption of renewable sources of energy. The research derives policy recommendations for regional development planning from decentralized energy generation, green infrastructure, and sustainable community projects to close this knowledge gap and enhance rural environmental resilience. The CGRS framework introduces a scalable, data-driven policy planning framework for policy planners to quantify rural sustainability performance, as well as guide interventions for development.