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Green economy in india

The outcome document recognizes that ‘that there are different approaches, visions, models and
tools available to each country, in accordance with its national circumstances and priorities, to
achieve sustainable development in its three dimensions’. It emphasizes that GESDPE ‘should
contribute to eradicating poverty as well as sustained economic growth, enhancing social inclusion,
improving human welfare and creating opportunities for employment and decent work for all, while
maintaining the healthy functioning of the Earth’s ecosystems’ . It affirms that GE policies
should be guided by the Rio principles, Agenda 21, JPOI and internationally agreed development
goals including MDGs
Policies Followed
According to Planning Commission ‘inclusiveness is a multi‐dimensional concept. Inclusive
growth should result in lower incidence of poverty, broad based and significant improvement in
health outcomes, universal access for children to school, increased access to higher education
and improved standards of education, including skill development. It should also be reflected in
better opportunities for both wage employment and livelihoods and in improvement in provision
of basic amenities like water, electricity, roads, sanitation and housing. Particular attention
needs to be paid to the needs of the SC/ST and OBC population. Women and children
constitute a group which accounts for 70 percent of the population and deserves special
attention in terms of the reach of relevant schemes in many sectors. Minorities and other
excluded groups also need special programmes to bring them into the mainstream’.[Faster
Sustainable and More Inclusive Growth , An Approach to the 12th Five Year Plan, Planning
Commission,p.4].
This report notes that, based on the Tendulkar Committee poverty line, the percentage of the
population in poverty declined from 45 percent in 1993‐94 to 37 percent in 2004‐05. Thus,
poverty declined at roughly 0.8 percentage points per year during the 11 year period before the
Eleventh Plan. The percentage of the population in poverty declined by approximately 1
percentage point per annum, during the five‐year period 2004‐05 to 2009‐10 .India is well
poised to meet the Millennium Development Goal target of 50 percent reduction of poverty
between1990 and 2015.
While India has been moderately successful in reducing poverty, the same cannot be said for
combating hunger. Poverty Headcount Ratio projected to reach 18.6% by 2015 is likely to miss
out target by about 3.5 percentage points. Proportion of population with dietary energy
consumption below 2100/2400 kcal has risen from 64% in 1987-88 to 76% in 2004-05.
Proportion of underweight children below 3 years declined only marginally during 1998-99 to
2005-06, from about 43% to about 40%. India is on-track or even ahead of MDG targets on
nearly all indicators related to universalisation of primary education. As for gender equality and
empowerment of women, India missed the 2005 deadline of eliminating gender disparity in
primary and secondary education.
Way forward
The Millennium Development Goals States of India Report, 2010 of the Central Statistical
Organization reveals that while the progress in achieving the MDG targets has been
satisfactory, there are regional disparities in achievements of many MDGs. There are large
inter-state and intra -state variations in per capita income and poverty estimates. The per capita

net state domestic product at 2004 -05 prices in 2011 -12 varied from Rs 112,372 in Goa to Rs
15,268 in Bihar. This order of variation is too high in a federal country like India with an
overarching goal of inclusive growth. The BPL estimate based on Tendulkar methodology for
2009-10 varied from 1.2% in Puduchery to 53.5% in Bihar. For achieving inclusive, sustainable
and equitable growth, regional disparities in the indicators must be narrowed in a time bound
manner. In the short and medium terms, special programmes are necessary for the poorer
states to catch up with the richer states. In the long run, the objective should be to enhance
livelihood opportunities to the poor via investment in human capital and other means so that
they are above the poverty line.
2(b) Integrating and balancing the three pillars of sustainable development
Para 63 recognizes the importance of the evaluation of the range of social, environmental and
economic factors and encourage, where national circumstances and conditions allow, their
integration into decision-making. It acknowledges that it will be important to take into account
the opportunities and challenges, as well as the costs and benefits, of green economy policies
in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication, using the best available
scientific data and analysis. It acknowledges that a mix of measures, including regulatory,
voluntary and others applied at the national level. It reaffirms that social policies are vital to
promoting sustainable development.
Policies followed
During the first ten five year plans, the focus was largely on economic growth. Since the
Eleventh Five Year Plan the government has been attaching weight to the social pillar of
sustainable development in policy formulation. Even though India has enacted a number of
environmental legislations and created institutions for environmental management since 1972,
our record in improving environmental quality is not satisfactory. The cost of environmental
degradation is in the range of 4 to 6 percent of GDP. The stock of natural capital as well as its
quality has been declining. Environmental degradation of natural resources hurts the poor
because of their dependence on natural resources for their livelihoods. The poor are more
affected by environmental pollution because of their inability to incur the averting expenditures.
Way forward

Of the two key areas of environmental policy reform suggested in National Environmental Policy
2006, actions are being initiated on sustainable management of natural resource management
while addressing livelihood concerns of the resource-dependent people, but the reform in
pollution prevention and control, particularly the legal reform of shift from criminal liability to civil
liability, is due. The present approach to dealing with environmentally unacceptable behaviour in
India has been largely based on CAC measures which involve criminal processes and
sanctions. National Environment Policy, 2006, notes that ‘although criminal sanctions, if
successful, may create a deterrent impact, in reality they are rarely fruitful for a number of
reasons’. On the other hand, giving unfettered powers to enforcement authorities may lead to
rent-seeking. It says that ‘civil law, on the other hand, offers flexibility, and its sanctions can be
more effectively tailored to particular situations. The evidentiary burdens of civil proceedings are
less daunting than those of criminal law. It also allows for preventive policing through orders and
injunctions’. Under civil liability pollution charges and taxes can be proportional to the extent of
violations. CAC measures may be appropriate for management of hazardous chemicals and
wastes and in other situations where precautionary principle is applicable. Such a reform will
enable introduction of pollution charges and taxes and introduction of markets for emission
trading. Introduction of these economic instruments will create incentives for polluters to
internalize the environmental costs in their decision making and also generate new financial
resources for environmental management As India is becoming a globalised market economy,
the need for incentive-based environmental policy is obvious. Revenues from use of EIs ca
support environmental programmes.

Integration of the three pillars of sustainable development in public policies in a balanced measure
is a difficult exercise. It necessitates evaluation of costs and benefits of designing and
implementing alternative policies in terms of the three pillars. For example, pursuit of economic
efficiency and environmental effectiveness goals requires that all prices reflect their social (private
and environmental) costs. But social goals such as poverty eradication and ensuring access to
clean energy to poor at affordable prices necessitate provision of food and energy at affordable
prices to the poor, which means setting the prices below their social costs and government
bearing the subsidy burden. The policy challenges are better targeting of the subsidies and
phasing them out over time in a gradual manner without hurting the poor.
In case of petroleum, India imports about 80 per cent of its crude oil. This high energy
dependence and the global price volatility have adverse effect on our trade balance. Also,
kerosene, diesel and LPG gas are heavily subsidized and their prices are controlled. The

desired and actual prices in 2011-12 are for diesel, Rs 721.80/cylinder
and Rs 373.43/cylinder for domestic LPG, and Rs 42.31/l and Rs 12.99/l for PDS kerosene. The
size of under –recovery on these items in 2011-12 was Rs 78,190 crore. [A citizen’s Guide to
Energy Subsidies in India, www.terin.org/events/India_citizen_Guide.pdf].
The growing disparity between petrol and diesel prices has resulted in the rapid growth of
diesel vehicles, adulteration and also leakages. Low diesel prices for diesel cars, sedans and
SUVs have no justification. In March 2012 there was a proposal of Rs 1,70,000 tax on small
diesel cars and Rs 2, 55,000 tax on medium and large diesel vehicles like sedans and SUVs. It
has not been implemented.
2(c) Involvement of all stakeholders
Para 64 acknowledges that involvement of all stakeholders and their partnerships,
networking and experience-sharing at all levels could help countries to learn from
one another in identifying appropriate sustainable development policies, including
green economy policies. Para 71 urges the need for sustainability strategies that integrate green
economy policies via new partnerships including public private partnerships to achieve
sustainable development