The United States administration is attempting devious tactics to convince India that its demand for Rs 1,500 crore compensation for the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy victims from Dow Chemicals will stand in the way of US-India trade and investment relationship. This gains importance as US President Obama is due to visit India in November.

Times Now, in an exclusive on Wednesday has reported that US Deputy NSA Michael Froman wrote to Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia in an email that the ‘noise’ created by India’s compensation demand could have a ‘chilling effect’ on bilateral relationship. This email reply was in response to Mr. Ahluwalia’s request for US help in garnering more World Bank loans. India is fast approaching the single borrower limit, beyond which it is difficult to land funds.

Mr. Froman’s email reply dated July 30 reads as follows: “We are aware of this issue and we will look into it. While I’ve got you, we are hearing a lot of noise about the Dow Chemicals issue. I trust that you are monitoring it carefully. I am not familiar with all the details, but I think we want to avoid developments which put a chilling effect on our investment relationship.”

The Group of Ministers on Bhopal tragedy is also insisting that Dow Chemicals must be made to pay for cleaning up the site of Union Carbide gas plant in Bhopal.

Dow Chemicals, which took over Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) in 2001, is claiming that it has no liability in the issue, as the tragedy took place prior to its acquisition. The company also asserts that the Indian arm of UCC was already disposed off, when they took over the US-based parent company.

In reply to the Opposition’s allegation that Indian government is allowing the US to arm-twist it, government sources said that the exchange of emails is proof that the US is trying pressure tactics, while the government has not yielded to it.

The Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission inventory done after a long gap of 13 years is finally out. While the country’s emissions stood at 1.23bn tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent during the last inventory in 1994, it jumped up by 41% to 1.73bn tones of carbon dioxide in 2007. However, India retains one of the lowest per capita emission figures – 1.5 tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent. When compared to per capita emission figures of developed countries, this is too low.

India’s GHG emission remains less than one-fourth of that of the US. With India’s huge population – almost 17% of the world population lives in India – the emission figure is condonable.

The increased GHG emission is attributed to the fast-paced industrialization in the country. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman, Planning Commission, who released the inventory report with Jairam Ramesh, minister of environment, pointed out that Indian economy’s emission intensity continues to decline.

Mr. Ramesh told media persons, “Interestingly, the emissions of the US and China were almost four times that of India in 2007. It is also noteworthy that the emissions intensity of India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) declined by more than 30 percent during the period 1994-2007.”

“India has the most updated emission inventory and we are not obliged by anyone to do so but the initiative was taken for domestic usage. We should now benchmark our emissions for 2007 with best practices in the world,” he added.

The energy sector continues to be the biggest contributor of GHG emission in the country, accounting for 58% of emissions. This is followed by industries at 22% and agriculture at 17%.

With coal reserves fast depleting and energy needs mounting with commendable performance of economy, India is seeking alternative renewable energy sources to meet the projected economic growth rate.

Kirit Parikh, who heads the governmental panel entrusted with the task of developing India’s low-carbon strategy, in an interview to Reuters cautioned that if the economy continues its casual approach to climate change, ‘the reality is even in business-as-usual we have to change from what we are today’.

Mr. Parikh added, “These are your imperatives in any way from your energy security point of view because we are very short of oil, very short of gas. We need to find in the next 20, at the most 30 years, an alternative to coal-based power plants. That will be required in a business-as-usual scenario.”

India stands fourth in the list of world’s largest carbon emitters. Pressure had been mounting on India to cut down its pollution to rein in the changing climate worldwide. Though per-capita emission is low for India, the increasing dispensable income of Indian middle-class is raising the demand for more cars and other luxury amenities.

Though India is promoting solar energy as the future energy source, coal still remains the mainstay of the economy. The country is home to about 10% of world’s coal reserves, but most of this is of inferior quality, which results in high levels of environment pollution.

As curbing carbon emissions is a sensitive political issue in the country due to the high cost involved, the panel was entrusted with the task of mapping a greener route to economic prosperity. The panel is due to submit its preliminary report next month and its final report in September.

In 1998, the Honourable Supreme Court itself took the initiative for providing clean and breathable air to the Indian citizens. In its directive, it mandated the Delhi Government to convert all the commercial vehicles to CNG-based engines, at the same time lashing out at the Government’s inability to check pollution. In addition, first batch of 28 other polluted cities are mandated.

The benefits of a NGV (Natural Gas Vehicle) are varied. A CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) automobile effectively, reduces toxic soot pollution by 75-90% and reduces 25% of the smog-forming pollution, as compared to a diesel engine. In addition, it offers cost economy on two counts. Firstly, the rate of one kg of CNG in India is only one-third of the price of one litre of petrol. Secondly, it is more efficient fuel – the energy produced by one kg of CNG is equivalent to the energy produced by 1.4 litres of petrol or 1.2 litres of diesel.

Delhi is now known as the CNG capital of the world, with the largest fleet of CNG buses. However, the overall penetration of NGVs is only 2.3%, as India struggles with CNG availability and the lack of distribution network. For example, at least 43% of the daily CNG availability in Lucknow cannot be supplied, due to the lack of refuelling gas stations. The discovery of Natural Gas reserves in the Krishna-Godavari basin are expected to bridge these existing gaps. Similarly, with major state-owned and private players investing in the distribution lines, the situation is likely to improve.