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Business News/ News / India/  India will grow 'sustainably', says Prakash Javadekar
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India will grow 'sustainably', says Prakash Javadekar

The Climate Action Summit, hosted by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, aims to boost action to implement the 2016 Paris Agreement
  • Javadekar said energy intensity in the country has been brought down and that the results were for all to see
  • Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar (Photo: ANI)Premium
    Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar (Photo: ANI)

    India will grow sustainably and at the same time ensure its citizens get the benefits of development, Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar told a United Nations forum here.

    Speaking at the 'Setting the context for the industry transition programme' at the Climate Action Summit on Saturday, he underscored Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Zero Defect Zero Effect' model where no products have defects and their production has no adverse effects on the environment.

    "My country is on (a) growth trajectory. I can't deny justice to my people (of wanting to develop). And we will grow, we want to grow sustainably," Javadekar said.

    The Climate Action Summit, hosted by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, aims to boost action to implement the 2016 Paris Agreement. It will focus on nine interdependent tracks, which will be led by 19 countries and aided by international organisations.

    The coalition on transforming industry is being led by India and Sweden.

    Javadekar said the nine tracks will help nations in efforts to achieve the goals set under the Paris Agreement.

    The minister told the forum that while carbon capture and storing has been discussed for years, it has not fructified to the extent it should have.

    He said in a first a campus is coming up in India which will capture carbon. "There will be carbon emission which will be trapped and used as raw material in other factories. That is a big thing," he said.

    Javadekar elaborated on India's six-dollar-a-ton carbon tax, calling it a carrot and stick policy.

    "So the industry starts thinking in the way of how we can avoid coal consumption and how we can come up with other solutions," he said, adding India is probably the only country with such a policy.

    The minister said the lowest carbon emission cement industry is in India.

    He lauded the improvements made in India's cement sector, especially in process technologies, more efficient raw material blending, high efficiency classified files, improved process control and management systems, better raw material selection.

    He said the Indian aviation industry was fast switching to biofuels.

    "Our first successful flight from Dehradun to Delhi flew on biofuel ethanol. We are making more progress in that direction," he said.

    The minister said now plans were afoot to fly Boeing planes with biofuel and "we will succeed I'm very sure."

    Javadekar said energy intensity (the measure of energy inefficiency) in the country has been brought down and that the results were for all to see.

    Later, he elaborated on the national policy of resource efficiency and circular economy concept.

    He said there is tremendous push by the Indian government on e-mobility and is giving related tax concessions.

    He said Euro 6 compliant vehicles will be in the market by April 2020.

    "It's a huge investment in fuel. So, we are moving around with really ambitious targets. And we are on the road," he said.

    Use of better quality inputs have resulted in gradual reduction of energy consumption in the steel sector as well, he said.

    He said the government's "Perform, Achieve and Trade" initiative has covered 478 energy intensive industries.

    The minister said many Indian industries are part of the carbon disclosure project and have begun adopting science-based targets.

    He said these examples of public policy intervention and public private partnerships have been successful in reducing emission of Indian industries.

    "However, efforts need to be scaled up because the challenge is global and large," he said.

    Javadekar stressed that many countries have profited through historical emissions and these nations must now take more responsibility to address the climate challenges. He suggested technological and financial solutions.

    On technology, he said there will always be new innovations coming up which will reduce energy intensity and raise efficiency and these technologies need to be made available.

    "All these measures have very important critical elements. And if government is supporting innovation, the society is supporting innovation, the innovation will not be bogged down in intellectual property rights, but will be available to the world because we are mitigating a disaster," he said.

    He further stressed there should not be a case of profiteering as motive in the case of technology transfer for tackling climate change.

    "And so my submission is that if we really want to achieve (our targets), we have to address these two important issues because the world is suffering."

    On products which are produced through environmentally-friendly means but are more expensive than their environmentally-degrading substitutes, Javadekar said, "the world has seen that organic food and vegetables fetch more price. Why can't industrial products do that? If we address all these issues...we will come out with certain different solutions."

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    Published: 22 Sep 2019, 06:47 PM IST
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