NEW DELHI: India's raucous democracy, endemic poverty and soaring economic ambition make curbs on greenhouse gas emissions a hard sell, even as global pressure mounts on the government to do more on climate change. New Delhi says its priority must be economic growth to lift millions out of poverty, while shifting, under a national action plan, to clean energy led by solar power. The government sets no greenhouse gas caps, but says India's per-capita carbon emissions will never exceed those of developed nations. India's per-capita annual emissions are about 1.2 metric tons, compared with China's 4 metric tons and Australia's 28 metric tons. Such arguments, Western leaders say, are just a fig leaf for India's apparent reluctance to act. Critics say New Delhi lacks the political will to implement stringent laws. The truth, say analysts, lies somewhere in between. India is the world's fourth-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, and some studies suggest it could soon overtake Russia to become No.3, after China and the United States. "India lacks political will, simply because climate is not a popular issue with Indians at large," K. Srinivas of Greenpeace's climate change campaign said recently. "In most cases tough decision-making is put off, not because of economic growth concerns, but populist politics." Free electricity is a good example. It often forms part of political parties' election agenda, even though power regulators oppose it as wasteful and mostly benefiting rich farmers. Likewise, tougher emissions laws for vehicles haven't been implemented, with pressure coming from users and the automobile lobby. Power equipment companies have resisted switching to energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs. Policy implementation has also been hindered by inter-ministry competition. "Many times people work at cross purposes," said a climate change official on condition of anonymity. "Unlike China, politics here is disparate." Analysts said that while China's single-party government can implement tough decisions - it aims to reduce energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product by 20 percent by 2010 - India's disparate democracy hinders setting targets. Globally, China is seen as doing more than India to fight climate change. "They often quote their efficiency policies and also renewable energy policy," Srinivas said. By comparison, India stresses growth for poverty alleviation. "By citing China's example and asking India to set emission targets, the West wants to block our economic growth and see to it we stay poor," said Bhure Lal, chairman of the government's environmental pollution prevention committee. India and China, though, are united in criticizing rich nations for not committing to deeper cuts and failing to follow through on funding pledges and technology transfers for cleaner energy. At a summit meeting in Japan in July, Group of Eight leaders agreed to the goal of halving emissions by 2050. But some balked at the idea of fixed midterm targets for emissions cuts by 2020 or 2030, something developing nations say wealthy states must agree to before they are willing to commit to curbs themselves. Rich nations, in turn, say big developing nations must step up and join the fight against climate change. Studies show the developing world now contributes more than half of all mankind's greenhouse gas pollution. India, whose economy has grown by 8 to 9 percent annually in recent years, contributes around 4 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. It is not yet required to cut emissions - said to be rising by 2 to 3 percent a year - under the Kyoto Protocol. Kyoto's first phase ends in 2012, and UN-led talks seek to agree on a broader replacement for Kyoto from 2013 that binds all participating nations to emissions curbs. The talks reach a climax at the end of next year in Copenhagen, but already there are doubts that a tough "Kyoto II" pact would be agreed upon by then. In June, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said India was not unyielding on the issue and would try to make a gradual shift from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy, such as wind and solar. "Look," Lal said, "there are problems of implementation because of the nature of politics in India, but there is no fundamental fault with India's stance. Our position is not indefensible."