National Budget: Will It Address Climate Change Concern?

India has just joined trillion dollar GDP club just before the usual Finance Minister’s budget speech this year. The fifth consecutive budget presentation by the incumbent finance minister (FM) P Chidambaram is itself a rare achievement which was only rivaled by his present Prime Minister. When Dr. Manmohan Singh was finance minister, the Congress party government then, didn’t worry about the Earth Summit or climate change but just opened the Indian market for the west (waste!) world to plunge into it. However, the departure is visible in this budget when Chidambaram pays a lip service to tackle climate change. Can we consider this budget the beginning of a concerned India’s management of its environment?

Not likely. Last year budget’s lip service on climate change was disastrous as till now the expert committee that constituted to prepare a strategy paper has not submitted its report on India’s climate policy. According to Chidambaram this preparation is in progress. Even while adhering to the principle of ‘common but differentiated responsibility’, FM suggests, India must promote clean technology products; review fuel emission and efficiency regulations; replace wood by solar as the fuel of common use; encourage the use of gas, set up a trading platform for carbon emissions; build sustainable green-field cities and so on. Are these ideas we heard first time? While Indian people or to large extent the international players are waiting for the expert committee’s report, FM went further by proposing to establish a permanent institutional mechanism for development and environmental coordination role. But, details of this mechanism are not mentioned or may be decided later.

This propositions and exploration of new ideas is only to divert the international pressure on India to tackle climate change. It is worth noting that Indian budget has never been generous to environmental management be it wildlife conservation or forest management or river cleaning projects. Even the Five Year Plans are less significant on environmental issues. While considering several imaginary security threats from within as well as beyond its boundary, the FM has increased the allocation for defense budget upward. The government is not at all worry about the real danger from environmental threat harping on India.

While FM is merely mentioning climate change in one hand, he actually facilitates more greenhouse gas emissions from Indian people. In India, the Air Condition (AC) market is growing like a gold mine as 10-20 percent growth annually since 2001. The Rs 30 billion strong air-conditioner market has recorded an impressive demand growth rate of 19 percent (compounded) between 1991 and 2001. Looking at this lucrative booming demand, FM has reduced the taxes on ACs for more sales. This should not be considered in the lights of the division of societal class structure of ‘haves of AC’ and ‘have-nots of AC’. For the last couple of years, the temperature variations in the summer seasons are really unbearable. So, to get rid of this scorching summer heat, people are forced to buy ACs. Eventually, the per capita consumption of electricity which is presently comes from thermal in India will be sky rocketed. So, now the survival emissions in India will become the luxury emissions of West. Indian climate campaigners will loose the upper-hand to fight against the largest emitters in the world.

In other words, on one hand FM speaks about climate change and on the other, creates avenue for the mass sale of Air Conditioners, coal fired energy production and so on. The budget proposes additional 78,577 MW power generation capacities in 2007-2012. However, 57 exploration blocks of oil and natural gases and 53 blocks reserves of coal accounting 13,842 million tonnes have been allotted for consumption. However, the FM has not proposed any incentives for the generation of solar power for industry to adapt to cleaner technologies. Although India has 1,83,000 MW of power potential from non-conventional energy sources, the emphasis is still on the thermal energy sources.

After spending so much of money, a CBI inquiry, one Task Force and several high-level meetings presided by the Prime Minister, the Tiger population in India are 1,411! So, the majestic feline is under severe threat. In order to rescue tiger population, this budget allocates one time grant of Rs.50 crore to the National Tiger Conservation Authority. The bulk of the grant will be used to raise, arm and deploy a special Tiger Protection Force. This is the only visible allocation for the environmental concern in 2008. Besides tiger conservation, FM proposes an ‘irrigation and water resources finance corporation’ to meet the demand for massive investment in agriculture.

Remember R.K Shanmukham Chetty’s budget speech in 1947-1948. It says: If the fabric of the State is not built on durable foundations, it will be futile to try and fill it with the material and moral contents of a good life. Manmohan Singh as Minister of Finance dedicated the 1991-92 budget to the late Rajiv Gandhi’s dream of ushering India into the twenty-first century - a strong, united, technologically sophisticated but humane India. The present FM who is the modern day Kautilya of Indian Arthasastra has successfully managed to survive his full term as well as prepared the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) to face the general election smoothly.

Leading national newspaper commended this year’s budget as both transformational and historic with respect to the treatment it offers on social, economic, gender, educational, culture, inclusive growth, class equality and developmental issues. Is it? The 2008 budget has attracted few debates than more concerns. Within the latent sense of ‘incredible India’, this year’s budget has drawn deliberate criticism for the sake of criticism. From ‘myopic budget’ to ‘populist’ election budget, from ‘competent budget overall and its profoundly poor-friendly overtone’ to ‘better than its colonial cousin’ as comparing to British Government’s budget, the financial and developmental pundits have categorized it without substance. Has the minister fared well on the climate change front? No. India’s Budget announcement for fiscal 2008-09 does not have any concrete proposals or incentives for combating climate change in the country.