Budget 2015 aims for 'Green India'

New Delhi, Feb 28 (IANS) Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Saturday said clean energy cess on coal will be increased by Rs.100 per tonne to fund clean environment initiatives.

"In indirect taxes, I propose to increase the clean energy cess from Rs.100 to Rs.200 per metric tonne of coal to finance clean environment initiatives," Jaitley said while presenting the union budget for 2015-16.

He said the excise duty on sacks and bags of polymers of ethylene other than for industrial use was being increased from 12 to 15 percent.

The minister proposed to levy Swachh Bharat cess at the rate of 2 percent or less "on all or certain services if need arises".

He said the government will launch a scheme for rapid manufacturing and adoption of electric vehicles to tackle pollution. An initial outlay of Rs.75 crore for the scheme for the period 2015-16 has been proposed.

The new and renewable energy ministry has revised its target of energy capacity to 1,75,000 MW till 2022, comprising 1,00,000 MW solar, 60,000 MW wind, 10,000 MW biomass and 5,000 MW small hydro, he said.

Economists are of the view that the ongoing series of coal auctions and the proposals from the finance minister will help in increasing the transparency in the sector, but may lead to price increase for segments Adepending on coal.

"Input cost will scale up for power, cements, steel and other sectors using coal as an input material. A part of that will trickle down to the end user," economist Abhirup Sarkar told IANS.

Asked if it will lead to higher inflation, he said: "Prices will definitely go up, but it is too early to predict inflationary trends."

According to him, there are also concerns over the economic viability of the green initiatives proposed in the budget.

"One has to look into the economic viability of the environment-friendly projects. Companies incur high cost when they try to stick to protection of environment... also, using electric vehicles have to be economically advantageous to the users. Otherwise it may not take off well," he said.

However, the plug and play model and Jaitley's retake on the public-private partnership (PPP) model has raised industry aspirations.

"Plug and Play projects, re-look at the PPP framework... make this year's budget a budget of ideas and if implemented well should lead to great growth in the Indian economy," SpiceJet founder Ajay Singh said.