This report summarizes the findings of a review aimed at understanding emerging approaches to energy subsidy reform, discerning trends, and identifying major strands of thinking and research in the field, as reflected in major policy and academic journals relevant to the subject. The review was initiated in early 2020 as …
Indians and Americans are, in some ways, very similar. For one thing, neither of them like high energy prices, regardless of the cost to sanity, society and the environment. Even as Indians were agitating against the government's hike in energy prices - and with pre dictable results, the government partially …
The 20 papers included in this book examine 3 issues -- market access commitments, plant breeders' rights and reduction of export subsidies on agro-exports. It has been argued that the existing subsidies for the farm sector should continue to encourage this sector. Further, the reduction in farm subsidies by the …
AGRICULTURAL scientists and economists warn farm subsidies are leading to the wasteful use of resources such as land and water. Highlighting the grave consequences of electricity and fertiliser subsidies, they suggest any decision on public funding for agriculture should be based on an environmental cost-benefit analysis for sustainable use of …
A CONTROVERSY is raging in the UK about the setting up of windmills in the countryside. Some conservationists contend they spoil the landscape and are uneconomic, while others refute these allegations and say windmills are the cleanest source of energy. The debate heated up when British environment minister John Gummer …
The removal of subsidies on phosphatic and potash fertilisers this year has led to an almost three-fold price increase and a sharp drop in their consumption, according to the annual review of the Fertiliser Association of India. Warns an association spokesperson, "If the trend continues, the yield and quality of …
DO PRICES determine increase in use of fertilisers, which are heavily subsidised by the government, in India? Fifty-six-year-old Madhusudan Reddy, who owns 50 ha in Chaganur village in Karnataka's Bellary district, disagrees. "I use the same quantity of fertilisers I did before the government increased their prices two years ago," …
PROPRIETY demands India's participation in the final round of the GATT negotiations on the Dunkel Draft (DD). A multilateral system of trade and technology transfer arrangements has its own set of advantages and India must help in the foundation of an equitable, transparent and efficient mechanism for the future. A …
THERE are some in India who believe that the Dunkel Draft (DD) would lead to a reduction of subsidies paid by developed countries to their farmers and this would help agricultural produce exports from India and other developing countries. They are the victims of an illusion created by the DD …
ISRAEL'S citrus industry, part of its drive to "make the desert bloom", is a spectacular success story with export earnings in the US $150-250 million range, depending on the quality and quantity of the crop. But, increasingly, critics complain the citrus industry is exporting in effect the country's most precious …
WATER is priced far too cheaply in India to prompt industrialists into conserving or recycling it, says a detailed study prepared by the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) for the Ganga Project Directorate. But the government has let the NIPFP recommendations lie in its cupboards. The study …
PAPER mills can substantially reduce their water consumption if they were charged a higher price for the water they use, says a detailed water audit conducted by the Bureau of Industrial Costs and Prices (BICP). In 1989, the pulp and paper industry had an annual installed capacity of 3.354 million …
MADRAS Refineries Ltd (MRL) will soon be a zero-effluent company. Situated in Manali, on the outskirts of water-starved Madras, MRL plans to treat its waste water and pump it back for circulation in its cooling towers. The Madras city corporation, which is extremely short of water, has placed restrictions on …
PARTICIPANTS: G D AGARWAL ADVISERENVIROTECH INSTRUMENTS PVT. LTD D N BASU PLANNING COMMISSION KANCHAN CHOPRA PROFESSORINSTITUTE OF ECONOMIC GROWTH V B ESWARAN FORMER REVENUE SECRETARYMINISTRY OF FINANCE K P GEETHAKRISHNAN FINANCE SECRETARYMINISTRY OF FINANCE ARUN KUMAR CENTRE FOR ECONOMIC STUDIES AND PLANNINGJAWAHARLAL NEHRU UNIVERSITY SURENDRA KUMAR MANAGER (SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENT) …
SINCE 1991, the Balotra municipality has been levying a tax of Rs 15 for every bale of cloth coming into the town for processing and dyeing. The levy was started by the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) on complaints by farmers downstream about groundwater pollution and will be used to …
• Entrepreneurs should be encouraged to set up separate companies that will operate common effluent treatment plants. While the companies would be paid for effluent treatment, their income would be exempt from tax, which would help them upgrade their technology and become more efficient. The companies could undertake not to …
CHARGES: Charges are a "price" polluters must pay for using environmental services. They increase costs of production for polluting industries. Various types of charges are: • Effluent charges are levied based on the quantity and/or quality of effluents discharged into the environment. • User charges are payments for collective effluent …
IN THE last 100 years of industrialisationindustrial firms have sought to increase their efficiency and profitability through increases in labour productivity. One fallout of this was the replacement of human labour with machines thatin turnhas resulted in heavy natural costs as industries became increasingly energy- and material-intensive. All this has …
ERSTWHILE Himachal Pradesh chief minister Shanta Kumar's refusal to give formal commitment to the World Bank on withdrawing the state's apple subsidy has cost the state Rs 150 crore in World Bank aid on integrated horticulture development. Though Kumar withdrew the subsidy in spite of opposition from the state's apple …
A REASON for the unabated and heavy migration into Delhi lies in the highly subsidised quality of life it provides. Delhi residents benefit from subsidies on water, power, milk, transport and services. Amitabh Kundu of the School of Social Sciences at the Jawaharlal Nehru University calculates that the subsidy enjoyed …
IF SO-CALLED ecological subsidies were halted in India, the true cost of paper would double immediately and the price of thermal power would soar an electrifying 60 per cent. These are the findings in a study __ the first of its kind in India -- sponsored by the Administrative Staff …
