Montek for eliminating energy subsidies

January 29, 2014 02:50 am | Updated May 13, 2016 12:57 pm IST - BANGALORE:

Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia (right) arriving to address the CII Partnership Summit in Bangalore on Tuesday. Photo: K. Murali Kumar

Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia (right) arriving to address the CII Partnership Summit in Bangalore on Tuesday. Photo: K. Murali Kumar

Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Tuesday said countries should first eliminate energy subsidies if they were serious about a sustainable economy.

Energy economy and a budgeted carbon emission were a means of achieving ecological sustainability; and one way of getting there was to cut “unjustified elements” of subsidies, Dr. Ahluwalia said at a session on sustainability, at the ongoing CII Partnership Summit here.

Politically sensitive

Subsidies were politically sensitive issues, yet countries like India “should each embark on multipronged national strategy and eliminate non-targeted subsidies … and in some way that the poor are protected.”

It would mean higher cost of energy, increase in domestic gas prices, among others. Renewable energy was costly, Dr. Ahluwalia said. He noted that most countries, including the U.S., practise subsidies in some form.

Most industry groups believe that keeping energy price low increases one’s competitiveness. Leaving energy efficiency to companies would not work, he said. Governments must ensure sustainability through regulatory and price-cum-incentives approach and also that companies adhered to the overall national sustainability agendas, he said.

Dr. Ahluwalia regretted that the plan of sharing the global carbon emission burden had not moved an inch forward. Countries must face the fact that there had been no progress on reaching an agreement, he said.

Delegates from Mauritius, Fiji, Macedonia and Singapore spoke on partnerships to tackle global issues.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.