Читать книгу The Political Economy of the BRICS Countries - Группа авторов - Страница 66

India is the second largest economy in BRICS with high amounts of fixed capital and investments in technological innovations. Yet its economic efficiency is low. India ranks last in both economic efficiency and social efficiency. Even in terms of environmental efficiency, though ranked fourth, the mean efficiency in India is much higher than that of China, at 81%. However, despite this, India is now the third largest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world after China and USA. On this count itself, India, with its excessive dependence on coal, needs to do much better in terms of energy efficiency.

Like in China, the reduction of poverty remains the key challenge. Associated with this issue of poverty, there are deep rooted issues of unemployment, low income, low levels of educational attainment, and poor health infrastructure. Like China, India too has argued in international fora that it needs to grow faster for a longer period of time to reduce poverty, and hence may not be able to bring down its emission levels in the near future.

The strategy for sustainable development in India is contained in a detailed study ‘Empowering People for Sustainable Development’ (EPSD). There was no separate plan for sustainable development. Details of projects would be contained in the nation’s 5-year plan documents, until recently when formal planning was discontinued altogether. The EPSD has four main objectives. They are combating poverty, empowering people, using core competence in science and technology, and setting environmental standards, conservation of natural resources, and improving the core sectors of the economy. There is a sectoral thrust in the EPSD document. While the natural environment’s importance is acknowledged, there is an equal importance assigned to the growth of the energy sector, transportation, and manufacturing industry. Separate targets are set and monitored such as the poverty rate, gender gaps, increase in forest cover, reduction in population growth rate, and increased access to education.

According to the Ministry of Environment and Forests, the economy is considered as a sub-system of the regional ecosystem. Hence, a large number of legislations and regulations have been enacted since the 1980s covering air, water, biodiversity, forests, pollution control, and waste management. There are a number of specialized institutions as well that provide research and knowledge for policymakers to take more informed decisions, like the Centre for Environment Education and the Tata Energy and Resource Institute and a number of other civil society organizations.