Bharatiya Pragna - Dr. Th Chowdary

India’s babus and politicos say they are
resisting reducing carbon emissions to protect the
economy. The truth is probably twofold: most of
our officials are lazy, intellectually and physically,
and realise they have lost the ability to effect real
change. The work it will take to move to a green
economy simply staggers their imagination. So
they hide behind half-truths and package their
shortcomings as prudent policy.
In reality, cleaning up old
industries and developing new green
ones is a GDP-boosting, multi-billion
dollar endeavour that will create
lakhs of jobs and put India on
technology’s cutting edge. But it will disrupt powerful
vested interests, and they are lobbying to
keep us stuck on fossil fuels.
Meanwhile, other countries, including
China, are taking leadership positions in green
technologies such as wind and solar energy, electric
vehicles (EVs), pollution control equipment
and recycling systems. Even India’s top green
companies, such as wind energy major Suzlon and
EV maker Reva, are focusing on foreign markets,
where they receive the support and subsidies
they are denied at home.
The root problem is New Delhi’s myopic
view that CO2 emissions be assessed on a
per capita basis. Implicitly, New Delhi wants In-
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The Clean Truth
Jahangir S.Pocha,
The writer cautious us against dangerous emmissions that industries emit.
dia to be able to increase its pollution to US levels,
that is 15 times. This ignores the fact that
India is already the world’s fourth-largest polluter
and is ecologically unviable.
Already, lung diseases and other environment-linked
ailments are spreading, particularly
among children. And rising temperatures are
hurting forests, farmland and cities alike. A better
approach for
India would
A better approach for India would be be to cut
to cut emissions in exchange for the trans- emissions in
exchange for
fer of green technologies at subsidised rates
the transfer
of green
technologies at subsidised rates and soft loans
from international institutions to pay for their purchase.
This would give Indian companies an effective
and affordable path to a greener future.
Some enlightened companies are already
pushing the envelope on green technology.
Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra are developing
EVs, Reliance Industries’ natural gas
finds could break our dependence on diesel and
kerosene and numerous efforts by steel, cement
and power companies could reduce their emissions
dramatically by 2020. We can only cheer
them on and hope that entrepreneurship drives
India to a cleaner future.
(Jehangir S.Pocha, Editor, Business World )
November & December 2008 Bharatiya Pragna