What's in Budget 2012 for the environmentalist to like

I generally don’t care much for the budget. So much paper given to those ministers. What a waste of trees on a document I am sure many of them won’t read. But I do read the budget every year and I am happy to note that the Finance Minister has been mentioning green initiatives in the budget. He didn’t disappoint this year either and here are some of the initiatives I like:

More duties on big cars: No tax is too little for these cars. The Finance Minister has raised import duties on SUVs and MUVs to 75 percent from 60 percent. That is a good thing. And he has also increased the excise duty on large cars made in the country to 27 percent from 22 percent. Also a good thing. Both these categories of vehicles are fuel guzzlers and something we can ill afford. It might encourage those who want to buy cars to go in for smaller cars that are more fuel efficient.

No customs duties on hybrid cars: I like the fact that the Finance Minister has continued with the exemption of duties for parts required for the manufacture of hybrid vehicles. It hopefully will make our automakers make more hybrid vehicles. Now if only we can get the alternative sources of energy to produce enough electricity to power the lithium ion batteries in the hybrid cars.

Solar power exemptions : It’s a good thing that the Finance Minister has decided to give the solar power sector some impetus by exempting plants and equipment from excise and customs duties. The government wants to generate 20,000 MW of electricity through alternative sources of energy by 2020 and any step in that direction is a welcome one.

Good time to switch to energy efficient lights: People need to switch to CFL lamps and it’s a good thing that the Finance Minister has exempted a coating chemical used in them from excise duty. LED lamps have also got some excise duty cuts.

While I appreciate these steps, I wish the government had done more to take up the cause of the environment more. Here are the things that I didn’t like about it.

No extra duties on diesel cars: Completely absurd that the Finance Minister completely ignored this. Everyone is going in for diesel cars just because they want to take advantage of the lower cost of diesel which may not rise any time soon due to political pressures. The Finance Minister should have bitten the bullet on this one. It would also have helped the government earn more revenue.

Extra duties on imported cycles and cycle parts: Just when I was all set to get myself a brand new mountain cycle from abroad the Finance Minister went ahead and raised customs duties on them. To encourage the domestic cycle industry, he said. I wish he hadn’t raised customs duties on cycles from 10 to 30 percent. I guess I’ll have to find an Indian mountain cycle now.