Feature Article

The Centre for Science and Environment recently interviewed a number of environmental experts, industrialists and economists to come up with a list of suggestions for green taxes and financial incentives:

Balotra, an arid little town in Rajasthan, has a novel way of raising money to treat effluents from its mushrooming textile dyeing and processing industry.

Faced with a water shortage, Madras Refineries Ltd has opted for cleaning up sewage water and recycling its own effluents to meet its water needs.

A large number of "economic instruments" are already being used in industrialised countries, according to a recent survey conducted by J B Opschoor of the Free University of Amsterdam. These economic instruments can be classified into five types: charges,

Higher rates have to be charged if the Indian paper industry is to learn a much needed lesson in water conservation.

Low water prices have been pinpointed as being responsible for wasteful consumption by both domestic and industrial consumers, but what does the government propose to do about it?

Tax reforms, which would penalise the unlimited use of nature, are fast becoming an imperative part of preparing national budgets, prodded by the realisation that ecological costs have to be accounted for, here and now. But will Manmohan Singh pay heed to

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Environmental protection will work only if it makes economic sense. And, one good way of making sure it does is by introducing a comprehensive system of environmental taxes.

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