India Environment Portal Knowledge for change

Pay if you pollute

• 30/01/2001
• Down To Earth

The Union government will probably let another budget go by without applying the polluter pays principle to reduce damage to environment. Pay for the damage if you pollute. Pay more if you pollute more. This, in simple terms, is the polluter pays principle. The Indian government chooses to ignore the message emerging from countries across the world, that makers and users of vehicles must pay the full cost of damage to environment from transportation.

European nations are designing fiscal instruments to develop a sustainable transport policy. Two newly published reports, one from the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (sepa) called eu