Clean tech gets a leg-up
February 27, 2010, 4:06 IST
Thrust on reducing fossil fuel dependence.
With India committing itself to a goal of 20-25 per cent cuts in its carbon emission intensity by 2020, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee announced a slew of measures to reduce dependence on fossil fuels in the long run and promote clean energy technology, as well as check pollution.
In his budget speech today, Mukherjee announced that a National Clean Energy Fund for funding research and innovative projects would be established. He proposed a clean energy cess on coal produced in India, as well as on imported coal. ‘Polluter pays' will remain the basic criterion, he said in his speech.
In addition, he announced a series of customs and excise duty cuts for photovoltaic and solar thermal power units. He said this in keeping with the government's resolve to implement the National Solar Mission. As part of this thrust, he proposed reducing central excise duty on LED lights from 8 per cent to 4 per cent.
He has proposed a nominal duty of 4 per cent on inputs and components used for electric cars, an energy-efficient means of transportation. And, a concessional duty of 4 per cent for the \'soleckshaw\', an environment-friendly alternative to manually-operated rickshaws, developed by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. Its key parts and components are also being exempt from duty.
Central budgetary allocation for the ministry of environment and forests has risen by about 10 per cent, from Rs 2,129 crore in 2009-10 to Rs 2,351 crore in 2010-11. However, the allocation for Project Tiger, a key programme to save the rapidly-dwindling tiger population in the country, has been cut by about Rs 30 crore.
With climate change on top of the government's list of priorities, pollution control has seen a substantial increase in allocation. The allocation for control of river water pollution programmes has gone up.
