The Hindu Business Line : Pachauri seeks abolition kerosene subsidy

NEW DELHI: Amid growing concerns over rising fuel prices, Mr R K Pachauri, Head of the Intergovernmental Penal on Climate Change (IPCC) on Tuesday sought abolition of subsidy on kerosene oil used in lamps, asserting that it was against a climate change m itigation policy.

“Kerosene subsidies while having aided the poor to obtain lighting in the past are not only incompatible with the climate change mitigation policy but also becoming exorbitant in terms of social costs due to rising fuel prices,” Mr Pachauri said.

He was of the opinion that instead of providing subsidy on kerosene oil-based lamps, efforts should be on promoting renewable energy resources such as solar lantern and photovoltaic cells.

Hailing the recently released National Action Plan on Climate Change which pushes for solar energy, he said one of the key aspect of promoting renewable energy was to divert resources allocated to “distorting subsidies” for non-renewable fuels, particula rly if they are being misused.

The leading environmentalist claimed that due to rapidly rising fuel prices, under recoveries for kerosene have been projected to lie between Rs 62,283 crores to Rs 247,312 crores in 2008-09.

Referring to a project “Lighting a Billion Lives” launched by his organisation Teri wherein kerosene lamps were being replaced with solar lanterns in villages without electricity, he said, “the economies of scale was in favour of the later”. - PTI

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