The Indian petrochemical industry faces a number of challenges for sustained growth, putting India at a competitive disadvantage in the competition with China. India’s ethylene capacity is far smaller than China’s and is unlikely to rise above its Asian rival’s levels in the next 5-7 years. This will make it impossible for India to develop applications further downstream.

Other major issues faced by the Indian petrochemical industry are lack of low cost feedstock and dependence on western countries for technology. New crackers and derivatives projects announced are making slow progress and their coming onstream might be further delayed.

The petrochemical industry in India is oligopolistic with four main players dominating the market, namely Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) along with Indian Petrochemical Ltd. (IPCL), Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL), and Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd. (HPL). One of the major advantages that this industry has to itself is a competitive range of labor cost and a huge trained talent pool. Meanwhile, insufficient basic infrastructure, prevalence and use of old technology and high feedstock cost in comparison to Middle East countries are some setbacks it continues to face.

However, it is anticipated that the output growth of almost $200 billion from the current $83 billion will be made within the coming decade. The future of the Indian petrochemicals industry is bright with domestic demand driving the market for products. With Government support slowly falling into place, the future could see more investments from multinationals as well as domestic companies.

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World Environment Day embodies the approach of raising awareness, encouraging people to voice their thoughts and do their utmost to conserve the environment, The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group is hosting ‘Green Week’ to become an active agent for sustainable development.

Various initiatives taken by The Group for the entire week includes gifting plants to all the guests in their restaurants and displaying a long graffiti wall at the lobby where the guests can leave their comments, suggestions and views about the environment. The hotel is also organizing a plantation drive for its in-house guests and a pollution check camp will also be set up at the driveway of the hotel. Besides taking initiatives for guests, the hotel is also arranging employee engagement activities to raise awareness amongst the staff.

The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group has created an interesting online feature around this as well – Plant a tree at the Push of a Button, where for each new LIKE on The Lalit Facebook Page, the group will plant a tree. So now with every click on www.facebook.com/TheLaLit.Hotels.Palaces.and.Resorts , a tree is planted and a step is taken to protect the environment.
About Bharat Hotels Limited:
Bharat Hotels Limited is the owner of The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group. They presently offer 17 hotels in the five-star deluxe segment, with eight operational and nine to open shortly, all under The Lalit banner. The properties are known for their spectacular settings and locations. The operating hotels include The Lalit New Delhi, InterContinental The Lalit Mumbai, InterContinental The Lalit Goa Resort, The Lalit Grand Palace Srinagar, The Lalit Ashok Bangalore, The Lalit Laxmi Vilas Palace Udaipur, The Lalit Temple View Khajuraho, and recently opened The Lalit Resort & Spa Bekal. The under construction hotels, scheduled to open between 2010 and 2011 are located in Kolkata, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Noida, Dehradoon, Dubai and Koh Samui (Thailand).

SPARKLE with MICROSHIELD was earlier launched in Chennai in the month of March 2011 and the company has so far sold more than 600 units in Tamil Nadu.

Mr.Prakash Babu, Head-Service / Consumer Product Division claimed that MICROSHIELD plays a vital role in ensuring the water is pure and safe for consumption even after storage.

MICROSHIELD serves as the last stage in the water purifier (RO). After the water passes through the RO membrane, it goes to the MICROSHIELD stage and is collected in the tank. MICROSHIELD imparts a strong anti-microbial property to the water and ensures that the water in the storage tank of the RO purifier remains free from microbiological recontaminations for upto 48 hours. Recontamination in the RO storage tank is a potential problem users face. Not many companies have a solution to this serious problem which defeats the very purpose of installing a water purifier.

MORF has entered into a technical understanding with Halopure Corporation of US and sources the product from this company.

Elaborating on this Mr.Srinivasan, Senior Manager of the company states that water purification in today’s world has more challenges than ever before. It has today become all the more important to choose a purifier based on the characteristics of the water.

MORF has close to 100 models to address the different types of contaminants found in the present day water. Major contaminants found in today’s ground water are excessive iron, hardness, total dissolved solids, heavy metals, insecticides etc. Acidic pH is also a major problem found in many parts of the metro cities.

However, the government supplied water mostly does not have these contaminants but have issues such as excessive turbidity, suspended solids and biological contaminantion happening during distribution (transit contaminations).

MORF has a wide gamut of products to address these contaminantions. With over 1.5 lakh users across South India, MORF has a solid service infrastructure in place to meet the service requirements of its customers.

MORF is also the winner of prestigious UNESCO-WATER DIGEST awards for two years in a row. ie., 2010 and 2011. Please visit www.morfindia.com for more details.

Contact Person : Mr.Sukumar
Off : 044-45456666
H/P: 9841205836
Add: 3/3, Sarojini Street, Mahalingapuram, Chennai – 600034.
corp.strategy@morfindia.com

Mr. Gupta brings with him an experience of more than thirty years in financial management. In his earlier capacity as Group Chief Financial Officer, Al Suwaidi Group he was responsible for finance functions at corporate level and was deeply involved in strategic business & financial planning, fund raising, driving IT initiatives of the group. He also held additional responsibility as General Manager for one of their manufacturing businesses and was responsible for overall operations of that business. Earlier positions held by him include Finance Head with Samtel Color Limited, Vice President, Finance with Fenner India Limited and Deputy General Manager, Finance with Birla Yamaha Limited.

Mr Gupta was involved in raising venture capital funding & large term debts for the Samtel group and was involved in taking one of the first companies of the HCL group public in the year 1984. He has tremendous experience in strategic business & financial planning, fundraising for capex & working capital and driving IT based ERP systems for organizations. Mr. Gupta has completed his B.Com (Hon.) from Delhi University and is a Chartered Accountant from Institute of Chartered Accountant of India.

Inderpreet Wadhwa, Chief Executive Officer, Azure Power said “Solar Power generation is extremely capital intensive and a sound financial strategy is a must for successful growth of any business in the solar power sector. While Azure has already demonstrated successful financing structures for large scale solar power generation, I am quite excited to have Mr SK Gupta on board to build upon Azure’s current success and lead the company through its expansion stage using the wealth of his experience in capital strategy, planning, risk management and investor relations. I am happy to welcome Mr. SK Gupta to Azure Power and confident that his experience of more than thirty years in financial management, will hold us in good stead.”

Mr. SK Gupta said “Solar sector in India is in its nascent stage and has a large potential for steep growth in coming years. It is a capital intensive industry with special funding requirements. Companies in this sector require long term innovative financial planning to grow steadily. I am delighted to join Azure Power, a company that has taken great strides in this fast growing sector, and am confident to scale the company to new heights.”

Mr. S K Gupta has assumed responsibility as the Chief Financial Officer and is contributing to the growth of the company into a leadership position in solar power generation.

Interface, Inc., the worldwide leader in design, production and sales of environmentally responsible modular carpet, believes that Earth Day is an important time for individuals and organisations to consider environmental impacts. Today, the company is revealing highlights made over the past year in reducing its own negative impacts on the earth to demonstrate ways other companies can achieve progress toward sustainability. Among the top accomplishments heralded by Interface President and CEO Dan Hendrix are: advancements in recycling and diverting used products from landfills; cumulative reductions in greenhouse gas emissions; committing to greater transparency in the form of Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), and educating employees and other stakeholders about the benefits of sustainability.

“Sustainability as a destination is an infectious goal at Interface and a positive force,” said Hendrix. “It’s woven into nearly every aspect of our business, proven out economically over the long-term and has changed how we think, operate, communicate and interact. Over the past 12 months, we have made remarkable strides in several areas that all directly tie into our sustainability journey and progress.”

After tracking global environmental and social effects over the last 17 years, Interface continues to move away from a take-make-waste industrial model, toward a sustainable business inspired by nature. The company considers indicators such as its physical waste, energy usage, greenhouse gas emissions and water consumption to be crucial to understanding its progress toward sustainability and challenges ahead. The organisation’s journey is driven by research and development in manufacturing processes and product innovation. Interface also considers the significance of social capital and investment in people, including the company’s employees and local community members, as critical components for advancement.

“By pointing to progress we hope to serve as an example of what innovation and real change can mean for organisations, for future generations and for the environment,” said Hendrix. According to Hendrix, this year’s accomplishments fall within strategic areas where the company has made significant progress toward sustainability and include the following:

1. Forty percent of raw materials used were from recycled or bio-based sources.
Interface strives to maximize its use of recycled and bio-based raw materials, utilizing thorough compatibility and footprint analysis to evaluate material alternatives. In the past six years, the percentage of recycled and bio-based raw material use has grown from four percent to 40 percent.

2. ReEntry® 2.0, a process that reclaims old carpet and converts it into recycled raw materials, diverted 12,500 tonnes of carpet from landfills in 2010.
Since 1995, ReEntry has diverted a cumulative total of 103,400 tonnes of carpet and carpet scraps. Additionally, the company’s ReEntry 2.0 reclamation process recently expanded to the company’s European operations in the Netherlands.

3. Actual greenhouse gas emissions at manufacturing facilities have been reduced by 35 percent from a 1996 baseline.
Interface’s energy efficiency and direct purchases of renewable energy have resulted in a cumulative reduction of 24,000 metric tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions from baseline. This amount is the equivalent to the carbon sequestered by 612,641 tree seedlings grown for 10 years, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ‘Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator’.

4. Commitment to EPDs on all InterfaceFLOR products by 2012.
EPDs are a leading-edge methodology for consumers and businesses, like nutrition labels, only much more detailed. They offer product “ingredients” and environmental impacts that occur throughout the entire life of a product. EPDs are based on life cycle assessment, which details the resource use and environmental impacts of products. EPDs follow standardized product category guidelines that are verified by third parties to provide full disclosure of all facts.

5. Compelling example of culture inspired by sustainability.
Through a project called “Together We Can Reuse It,” Interface employees in Thailand demonstrated waste recycling by creating an inventive new purpose for waste yarn—turning the material into knitted dolls. Employees made and sold dolls, generating proceeds that were then donated to a non-profit foundation. Interface expanded the project beyond the company to benefit the local community in Thailand’s Surin province by teaching the craft to community members, providing them with a new potential source of income.

Individuals, businesses and organisations can learn more about Interface and how the company is tracking its environmental impact and progress by visiting http://www.interfaceglobal.com/Newsroom/Press-Releases.aspx.

- ENDS –

About Interface, Inc.

Established in 1973, Interface, Inc. (IFSIA) is the worldwide leader in design, production and sales of environmentally responsible modular carpet, manufactured for the commercial and institutional markets under the InterfaceFLOR® brand, and for residential markets as FLOR®. The company is also a leading designer and manufacturer of commercial broadloom under the Bentley Prince Street® brand.

Puducherry (NECEER) As a part of the North East Centre for Environmental Education and Research , Imphal ‘s World Wide Save Loktak Lake , Puducherry chapter , an awareness drive was carried out in Pondicherry University Campus today from 4pm – 6pm . The event was carried out under the city co-ordinator Ms. Chanchan Yumnam along with 18 volunteers from different states and several supporters. About 250 people took part in the campaign. People from various age groups participated in the event ranging from school going children to college students, research scholars, professors, shopkeepers, retired officers and housewives. A simple questionnaire on

Loktak Lake was provided to people who participated in the event. Through the survey it came into picture that more than 50% of the people who participated in the event were unaware of the largest freshwater lake in North East India and also 55% of the people do not know anything about the World’s only floating National park.

After the questionnaire survey , volunteers geared up and explain the importance of Loktak lake to the people and the prevailing degrading condition of the lake due to siltation , eutrophication and also due to the impacts of Loktak hydro-electric power station. The event also gave stress on the consequences that may come up if immediate actions are not taken up to conserve Loktak which is referred to as the lifeline of Manipur.

The next part of the campaign will be conducted on Pondicherry Rock Beach on 16 April 2011, 4pm to 6pm. The campaign is an awareness programme initiated by NECEER, Imphal for the conservation of Loktak Lake. More than 600 volunteers and 32 city Coordinators are involved in organizing this campaign. The campaign is to create awareness about the conservation of Loktak Lake, the largest fresh water lake in Northeast India. The lake was recognised as Ramsar site in 1990. Keibul Lamjao, the only floating national park in the world is situated at the south west part of the lake. It is home to the endangered Manipur brow antlered deer ‘Sangai’ – Cervus eldi eldi and many endangered species. The lake is an Important Bird Area identified by BNHS, Mumbai and Birdlife International.

Involvement of youth and mobilization of public for the conservation of Loktak Lake is the main objective of the campaign. The campaign is supported by more than 20 international and national organizations. The campaign will conclude in 2012 with a grand campaign at the vicinity of the Lake by involving the local inhabitants, local NGOs and Government officials.

Filling up of questionnaires during the campaign

New Delhi, March 26 2011: Food Packaging major Tetrapak, Auto sector giants TVS Motor Company and Kirloskar Oil Engines; Textile leaders Welspun and Ginni Filaments; and IT majors Infosys and Cognizant were amongst 16 large and small Indian corporates that bagged the Parivartan Sustainability Leadership Awards for 2011.

The awards were presented at the Parivartan Sustainability Summit, India’s first market development forum on Sustainability and Innovation held on March 24.

The Parivartan Sustainability Leadership Awards, organized by India Carbon Outlook, seek to recognize Indian companies who have embraced sustainability in their business operations and supply chain and have shown leadership by taking initiatives for making their products, processes and facilities sustainable.

The winners were arrived at after evaluating the second stage shortlist of 200 + companies from an initial outreach of around 4500 companies actively engaged in the respective sector value chains. The nominations from these leading companies were judged by industry veterans and experts from the respective sectors such as Lars Domer of H&M, the leading European retailer; Avi Sahi of Nike; Arvind Goel of Tata Auto Components; Neeraj Garg of Piramal Enterprises and Vinay Awasthi of HP.

“Innovations hold the key to our success to create a green and sustainable future. Parivartan 2011 has showcased and recognized industry innovations to accelerate the growth of innovation power in India”, said Prof. P. B. Sharma, Vice Chancellor, Delhi Technological University and a member of the Awards jury, who chaired the technical session on innovations in automotive sector.

Echoing the sentiments, Dr. J.V. Rao, Director NITRA and another member of the Awards Jury stated “The award winners included a number of innovative approaches for catalyzing sustainability in the supply chain, and it is exciting to see such forward thinking leadership by firms.”

The Parivartan Sustainability Leadership Summit and Awards were supported by market leaders like SAP, cKinetics, GIZ, Shell Foundation, Intertek and CIIE- IIM Ahmedabad, amongst others; and were focused on sectors that are increasingly being driven to adopt sustainability measures in their extended supply chains.

“We are extremely delighted to receive the Parivartan Sustainability Leadership Award 2011. It is a matter of pride and priority for our company to strive for environmental sustainability and we are happy that our efforts are being recognized’’, said Jaideep Gokhale, Environment and Communications Director at Tetra Pak.

“We are very pleased to receive the Parivartan Sustainability Leadership Award 2011. It is great to be recognized at such a platform where we have been able to showcase our solutions for catalyzing sustainability to such a large number of companies operating in this space” said V.K. Kripanand, Founder and Director-Solutions, See Beyond Technologies, a winner in the IT sector.

Earlier in the day, at the Parivartan Sustainability Summit, several of the awardees and other senior industry executives deliberated upon the sustainability imperatives facing their respective organizations as also ways in which these seemingly ‘painful’ and ‘cost inducing efforts’ can be successfully converted into newer business lines and revenue sources. The day’s proceedings included a showcase of sustainability initiatives by more than 30 companies in front of more than 200 top managers and industry experts representing various brands, suppliers and industrial customers from these sectors.

Parivartan Sustainability Summit and Awards 2011 has been organized by India Carbon Outlook. For additional details please visit www.parivartanfoum.in
————–

The winners of Parivartan Sustainability Leadership Awards 2011 across various categories are:

Energy Conservation Thought Leadership Awards
Kirloskar Oil Engines (Automotive)
Mc Donalds (Processed Food and Beverages)
Nitin Spinners & Welspun (Textile and Apparel)
Infosys (IT and IT enabled services)

Water Conservation Thought Leadership Awards
TVS Motors (Automotive)
TechKnow Consultants (Processed Food and Beverages)
Precot Meridian (Textile and Apparel)

Thought Leadership in Recycling and Reuse
Maharani Paints (Automotive)
Tetrapak and Daman Ganga Paper Mills (Processed Food and Beverages)
Shri Lakshmi Cotsyn (Textile and Apparel)

Exceptional Leadership in Catalyzing Sustainability through Waste Management
Ginni Filaments

Exceptional Leadership in Catalyzing Sustainability through Sustainable Material Usage
AnaNaFit

Exceptional Leadership in leveraging IT Products for Catalyzing Sustainability
See Beyond Technologies

Exceptional Leadership for leveraging Internal Measures in IT segment
Cognizant

Special Recognition Award
Exceptional Leadership in Catalyzing Consumer Adoption
KPIT Cummins

Special Recognition Award
Thought Leadership in Shaping Sustainable Ecosystems
Cotton Connect

Media contact
Roselin Dey
Parivartan2011@carbon-outlook.com
+91.11.4105.1195

The global automotive industry is back on the growth path after the setback caused by the financial crisis of 2009. The industry is now actively pursuing innovative new technologies, production and business techniques. Although it is on a growth path, the fact remains that it will take a long time for it to recover.

For Sample Pages, please click or add the below link to your browser:

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Asia has recovered well as compared to the West, and this is reflected in the growing automobile numbers. China, the world’s largest automotive market, showed a more than 20% growth in December 2010 compared with the same period for the previous year, and this trend is expected to continue. According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, China’s automobile production was 1,864,800 units in December 2010, an increase of 6.27% as compared to November 2010. Passenger car and commercial vehicle production were 1,445,300 units and 419,500 units respectively, an increase of 22.51% and 21.60% over the last year. From January to December 2010, China’s automobile production was 18,264,700 units, an increase of 32.44%; passenger car and commercial vehicle production were 13,897,100 units and 4,367,600 units respectively, an increase of 33.83% and 28.19% compared with the same period last year.

China and India seem to have weathered the financial crisis storm, compensating for the decline in lubricant demand in the rest of the world. In 2009, these countries took over the automotive production leadership position, with over 14 million units – a surge of more than 48% over 2008 – and well over 10 million more than the total production of the US, Canada, and Mexico combined. In India, the production growth was less dramatic.

As auto manufacturing shifts from North America to the Asia-Pacific region such as China and India, so too does the demand for automotive lubricants. For suppliers, to take advantage of the opportunity, these growing markets have become an important target to expand their production and distribution. Given its close proximity to China, for example, South Korea has become a major supplier of Group III base stocks, importing 70 to 80% of Group III consumption into the Chinese market.

GBI Research’s new report, “Lubricants Industry to 2015 – Surge in Automotive Market in Emerging Economies Driving Demand”, provides an in-depth analysis of the Global Lubricant Industry and highlights the various concerns, shifting trends and concerns around the globe. The report provides forecasts for the Lubricant Industry to 2015. The report also provides forecasts of Global Lubricant Demand to 2015 by Region, by Market, by formulation and by Product. The report gives the SWOT analysis of various major players of the Lubricant Market. The report is built using data and information sourced from proprietary databases, primary and secondary research and in-house analysis by GBI Research’s team of industry experts.

For further details, please click or add the below link to your browser:

http://www.gbiresearch.com/Report.aspx?ID=Lubricant-Industry-to-2015-Surge-in-the-Automotive-Market-in-Emerging-Economies-Driving-Demand&ReportType=Industry_Report&coreindustry=ALL&Title=Oil_~_Gas

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Landmarks and global icons such as Gateway of India, Taj Hotels in Mumbai and Delhi, India Gate, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Mumbai, Bollywood celebrity – Vidya Balan & Cricket legend – Wasim Akram are joining millions of people from community, business, government, transcending barriers of race, religion, culture, society, generation and geography in a global celebrations of their commitment to protect one thing that unites us all.

Since the first earth hour, in 2007 till date 4600 cities have switched off lights but now we need to go beyond the hour. After you have switched the lights back on,‘Rethink Dimming.’

History of dimming was rewritten in 1960, when Founder of Lutron, Joel Spira invented the first ever energy-saving electronic dimmer. Before that, dimming was done with bulky rheostat dimmers which could only dim by transforming electricity into heat without saving any energy at all.

Energy Saving has become a global concern with consumers, corporations and governments alike demonstrating their desire to provide a sustainable environment for future generations. There are many different approaches to deal with this hot issue: recycling, less usage of plastic bags, turning the car off when stationary, setting the room temperature to 25.5 C. However an area that is often over looked in reduction of energy is lighting, even though it is the most common source of energy consumption in any building

Dimming helps households and organisations alike to make a significant contribution towards the protection of the environment by reducing energy consumption, lamp replacement and all associated costs. Other benefits being an increase in comfort level, the prevention of distractions, the ability to enhance moods, the extension of lamp life and just having the convenience of choice.

The key to dimming is TRAIC (TRIode for Alternating Current). At the heart of any dimming component, an electronic switching component allows current to flow in either direction. It allows light to be switched on and off very rapidly – approximately 120 times a second. The longer the light is on vs off, the lower is the light output

Dimming                        Electricity Saved                        Bulbs Last Longer

10 %                              10 %                              2 times longer

25 %                              20 %                              4 times longer

50 %                              40 %                              20 times longer

75 %                              60 %                              > 20 time longer

So, Switch off and Dim on

The beauty of dimming is that by dimming 10%, your naked eyes won’t even notice the difference in light level as your pupils will automatically enlarge to allow more light in.  So you can virtually save energy without noticing the change in light level. Beside, dimming can give you the desirable light level for different activities. Some activities like reading require brighter light level while other activities like dinning or listening to music need lower level and more ambiance.

Saving Energy the Lutron Way

Lutron is committed to helping its customers find ways to save energy and all of Lutron’s lighting control systems enable customers to reduce electricity usage and extend lamp life significantly.  In addition, the company’s range of shade and blind controls allow natural light levels to be maximised, offering the ultimate in efficient artificial and natural lighting control.  Lutron leads the industry in controlling energy efficient light sources and full-range dimming is now possible for a wide range of fluorescent lamp types. The trend toward LED lighting for accent and general lighting is growing, and Lutron is there to control it all.

Lutron Electronics Co., Inc., headquartered in Coopersburg, Pennsylvania, is the world’s leading designer and manufacturer of lighting controls and architectural lighting control systems for residential, commercial and institutional applications. The company that invented solid-state dimming, Lutron is the most recognised and requested brand in the industry and sells and services products in more than 80 countries around the world. It offers more than 15,000 products—from single-room dimmers to comprehensive architectural systems that operate lighting throughout an entire building and can control virtually any lamp source.  Lutron has offices in New Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Dubai, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Singapore, Tokyo, Barcelona, Berlin, London, Madrid, Mexico, Paris and Sao Paulo.

Hyderabad/ India/ Loveland, Colo. (March 23, 2011) – Abound Solar, a leading manufacturer of cadmium telluride thin-film photovoltaic solar modules, announced a long-term sales agreement with Solarsis. The companies will work together to provide solutions based on Abound’s next-generation thin-film modules serving project developers in the Indian market. Solarsis will also establish a test facility with the purpose of optimizing balance of system (BoS) designs around Abound Solar’s modules that will lower total system costs for customers. The first project under this agreement will be a 1 megawatt ground-mount array in Ananthapur, in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India.

Abound Solar, based in Colorado, USA, recently closed on a $400 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to fund the expansion of the company’s manufacturing capacity and help cater to the demand for its products in emerging markets such as India. Solarsis is a leading solar system integrator in India and has over 150 years of combined management experience. Headquartered in Hyderabad, India, Solarsis excels at design, installation and project management of photovoltaic solar solutions and utilizes a five-step integration process that includes comprehensive financing with debt and equity support.

“Abound Solar’s thin-film modules are ideally suited for environmental conditions found across India: high temperatures and diffuse light conditions,” said Venkat Rajaraman, CEO of Solarsis. “The combination of thin-film technology and high performance in a low-cost module and our experience in integrating BoS components allow us to deliver strong financial returns to our customers.”

“We are extremely excited to work with Solarsis as a preferred system integration partner for India,” says Julian Hawkins, Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Abound Solar. “The company’s position as a leader in the Indian solar market represents a great opportunity for Abound Solar as we work to develop our presence in the quickly growing market.”

According a recent report published by Research and Markets, the leading source for international market research, India promises to become one of the world’s largest photovoltaic solar energy markets, in part because the country features some of the best solar resources in the world. In November 2009, the Government of India announced the National Solar Mission targeting 20,000 megawatts of cumulative installed solar power by 2022. An average year-on-year growth of 68% will be needed to reach the target of 20,000 MW, the majority of this coming from grid-connected projects. Solar Mission will not only provide clean and safe (solar) electricity to millions of people, but also will create tens of thousands of jobs at the same time.

About Abound Solar
Abound Solar is a leading manufacturer of next-generation, cadmium telluride thin-film photovoltaic modules. Built upon 15 years of development at Colorado State University and with support from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Abound Solar is producing solar modules that significantly reduce the cost of generating solar electricity using a robust, commercial-scale, continuous manufacturing process. For additional information, visit http://www.abound.com.

About Solarsis
Solar Integration Systems India Pvt Ltd (Solarsis), headquartered in Hyderabad, India, offers ‘concept-to-completion’ services for grid-connected and off-grid systems using Solar PV technology. Solarsis is among the select System Integration companies in India that provide comprehensive financial assistance to its clients. Solarsis recently completed a state-of-the art 2MW Solar PV plant using both Thin-Film and Poly-Crystalline technologies. Several ground-mounted solar plants are currently under construction. http://www.solarsis.in

# # #

The Confederation of Indian Industry is to be lauded for continuing to encourage voluntary initiatives by industry to disclose information on their climate change performance as part of the Carbon Disclosure Project initiative in India for the last 5 years, with 51 companies doing so in 2010, observed Mr. Jairam Ramesh, Minister of State for Environment & Forests, speaking at the inaugural session of the Conclave on Business & Climate Change organised by CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development. India’s efforts to curb greenhouse gas [GHG] emissions are beset with two unique challenges: legacy issues of ageing and inefficient plants, and the massive numbers of small and medium enterprises; these have prevented greater emission reduction targets from being achieved, and are high on the government’s priorities. The Government released last year the status of GHG emissions inventory for 2007; the top emitting sectors were power generation [38%], industry [23%], agriculture [17%], and transport and residential sectors [each 7%].

India has made a voluntary, unilateral commitment to reduce its emissions intensity by 20-25% by 2020 basis 2005, and is all set to exceed that target. Coupled with the CDP effort by industry, the Government of India is all set to start the Perform-Achieve-Trade [PAT] scheme under the National Mission on Enhanced Energy Efficiency and the Expert group for the Low Carbon Economic Growth for the 12^th and 13^th Five Year Plans beginning in April 2012 envisages a high growth, with elements of being inclusive and low carbon, leading to a sustainable economy, added the Minister. He re-emphasised the need to transform India from a buyer of green technologies to becoming a world leader and supplier in the fields of wind and solar energy, coal gasification, etc. besides being a big potential market for environmental goods and services. He concluded by saying all these were in the self-interest of the country, and effective domestic actions lend the greatest strength to India’s leadership in international negotiations.

Setting the context for the session, Mr. Arun Bharat Ram, Past President, CII and Chairman, SRF Ltd., remarked the twin issues of climate change and the financial crisis have made all economies struggle for stability and prosperity. While the Minister has propounded the 3M approach – Measurement, Modelling and Monitoring – to curb GHG emissions, Indian industry has taken several adaptive and mitigative measures to strengthen the government’s efforts.

Mr. Mark Kenber, CEO, The Climate Group, strongly pushed for creation of prosperous, low carbon economies simply because there is no other alternative. Business would be interested since this also presents a great opportunity to add to their bottom lines apart from the moral responsibility. The Indian market for environmental goods and services has a potential for $ 137 billion in the next 7-8 years; in comparison the world market is potentially $ 2.2 trillion. The energy market alone in India has the potential to be worth $ 25 billion.

The Conclave was attended by over 150 top industry leaders from various sectors, and also representatives from government organisations, research institutions and civil society. It was organised by CII in partnership with WWF-India and CDP, with the support of the British High Commission in India.

15^th March 2011

New Delhi

Neelam Joshi

Media Desk

Confederation of Indian Industry

23, Institutional Area

Lodi Road

New Delhi – 110 003

Mobile: 9810882431

RECOVER has been successfully tested in highly polluted waters where it has succeeded in bringing down the TDS values from 169000 to 800 ppm. The treatment of effluent water in Recover has usage of Mr. Green (A bacteria developed by Trident Controls) a technology enabling microbial intervention for reduction of TDS.

Sh. Salman Khursheed, welcomed this ground breaking technology and complimented the team as also sent out a message to the industry to become more innovative and environment conscious. “The time has come for us to develop a “water conscience” of the nation that is the paradigm that I would like evolve in India.” he said.

Other than “RECOVER” company has also launched a foundation, aptly titled as “MAKE THE EARTH SMILE FOUNDATION”. This has been launched as a Section 25 company. The purpose of the foundation includes and is not limited to fund, market, promote and evangelize organic and environment friendly methods, technologies, seminars, trade and road shows, conferences, events, individuals and groups nationally and internationally.

Jackie Shroff, the chief patron and promoter of the foundation recited the four lines form Samuel colleridge’s poem, the ancient mariner, ““Water, water, everywhere, And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, everywhere, Nor any drop to drink.” Jackie remarked, “You draw water to your own mill and it was in the year 2003 which was also the “international year of fresh water” that I drew my inspiration to get involved with water and indeed alongside my film assignments that carry on, I would like to mark this spell of my life as also dedicated to water”

Under the leadership of Mr. Krishna Prasad, MD of Trident Controls, company have broken fresh ground and have created this microbial treatment that reconstructs good water and converts the totally dissolved solids into suspended solids and thereby segregating them from good water ensuring its easier removal in an organic manner through converting it into biodegradable and organic manure.

Meghalaya is formally announced as the focal state for the launch of this technology. According to Mr. Krishna Prasad, “Interaction with Dr. Sangma and his knowledge of water and effluent concerns has encouraged us to take up Meghalaya as the focal state in our onward journey and start working with the coal mines there.”

Mr. Vincent H Pala, the Honorable Minister of State for Water Resources said, “At the ministry of water resources, we have been pained to acknowledge the dismal results of reverse osmosis and have continually looked at alternate treatments. This technology comes like a breath of fresh air, with near zero discharge and my scientists have worked closely with this team to apprise them of the issues and conduct extensive discussions and see for themselves the pilots put together by this team”

Company is also launching its website for RECOVER – www.recoverwater.in that will be of tremendous value to the customers. Main goal behind launch is to make business as simple as a click through its comprehensive website. The new site offers detail product information, contact information, user-friendly product navigation with comprehensive information regarding the company’s profile.

The molecular composition of water enables it to bond with and absorb nearly all solids, liquids and gases. These distort the quality and composition of water. The vital chemical aspects of good water are: Biological oxygen demand (BOD), Chemical oxygen demand (COD) and the value of Totally Dissolved Solids (TDS) of less than 100 to 250 ppm for drinking water and less than 2000 ppm for industrial effluent discharge.It must also retain a pH of between 6.5 to 7.5.

The conventional water treatment or effluent treatment systems use a process of reverse osmosis, where nearly 65% of the water is required to backwash the filtration membranes thereby effectively cleaning only 35% of the balance water. The 65% thus carries with itself the impurities of the 35% it cleans, thereby rendering this backwashed water absolutely untreatable with these added impurities. This water while it is segregated can no longer be discharged into the earth and hence is evaporated using enormous amounts of power. Thus the pollution is merely released into the atmosphere and compounds the problem.

Expansion Plan

Trident controls is investing Rs.20 cr in this project and expecting a turnover of Rs. 500 cr by the end of year 2012 with the increase rate of 30% every year. Company is planning to sign a joint venture agreement with Geneva based Bee Fee Tec to cater to European market and  also plans alliances with Rutgers University, USA, under which Trident opens a Center for Life Science Research in India, first of its kind in Asia.

Company already has channel partners in Punjab, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka & Kerala. By the end of 2012, company will establish its production center at multiple locations Hyderabad, Hosur, Baroda and Patiala.

A Humane Education Program for students of Class V of DAV Public School was organized by STRAW – Stray Relief and Animal Welfare on January 18, 2011 at their school premises at R.K. Puram, New Delhi. Around a hundred children were sensitized about the need for compassion and kindheartedness towards animals and other living creatures, who also share this world with us.

The school authorities appreciated the event and have agreed to carry out these humane education workshops for other classes as well.

This program was conducted with the help of volunteers who participated wholeheartedly.

STRAW – Stray Relief and Animal Welfare is an animal welfare organization that is recognized by the Animal Welfare Board of India and is a member society of the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA), UK. STRAW strives to achieve its motto of “Animal Welfare through Education” by means of humane education programs that are conduct in schools. The idea is to plant a seed of compassion, care and respect for animals and other living creatures into the hearts of children in particular and people in general. The response to our programs in many schools of Delhi has been very encouraging. Both the children and their teachers love it because it contributes not only to animal welfare but also to the all round development of the child. To find out more, please visit www.strawindia.org.

Contact:

Vasanthi Kumar – Co-founder & Chairperson

STRAW – Stray Relief and Animal Welfare

D2 / 2303, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi – 110070 (INDIA)

Phone: 011.46065046; Hand Phone: 09958555443

Email: Vasanthi@strawindia.org; Web: www.strawindia.org

Keep the taxes on big cars effectively high and not give in to industry pressure. Link up taxes with the actual fuel use of the car to prevent fuel guzzling

• Centre for Science and Environment in its missive to the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has demanded decision in this years’ budget to halt misuse of under-taxed diesel by rich car owners. Government cannot bear the burden of this subsidy and continue to suffer revenue losses on account of this luxury consumption
• Enforce additional, substantial and effective increase in excise duty on all diesel cars and SUVs if the taxes on fuels cannot be equalized immediately. Neutralise the price advantage of cheaper diesel fuel effectively.
• CSE demands restoration of 24 per cent excise and increase in special duty on all big cars. Taxes must also reflect actual fuel consumption of cars
• Remove the distorted and lenient definition of small diesel cars and align with the current definition of small petrol cars
• Car industry is still trying hard to seek tax concession for bigger cars that use more fuel and deflect attention from diesel cars. Bending to such demand can have disastrous impacts.
• Cheaper diesel fuel will encourage more cars, bigger engines and more driving and more fuel guzzling in the rebound.
• The yawning gap between petrol and diesel has continued to incite deadly trend in diesalisation of cars and shift towards bigger cars. This will increase public health risks from toxic emissions and undermine energy security.

New Delhi, February 18, 2011: India cannot afford to delay the decision to take away the current incentive for diesel cars given the public health and energy security implications — the message that Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has for Pranab Mukherjee, as he gets set to present this year’s Budget.

CSE has drawn the attention of the Finance Minister to the recent trends that show that the car industry is on an overdrive to introduce more new diesel car models even in the small car segments that had not seen much diesel penetration earlier. The combination of cheap diesel and lure of lesser taxes on small cars will make the diesel car numbers explode now. Already, diesel cars constitute 36 per cent of new car sales – this is expected to be half soon. Since 2008, the price gap has increased from 28 per cent to 35 per cent in Delhi. It is deplorable that cars are not being made to pay the full costs when the oil companies are losing Rs 7-9 per litre of diesel.

Says Anumita Roychoudhury, head of CSE’s air pollution team: “CSE condemns this perverse subsidy. If the use of subsidised diesel continues to increase, the government will continue to incur a huge revenue loss as it earns much less from excise on a litre of diesel used by cars, as opposed to petrol.” The Union government earns more than three times higher excise revenue from every litre of petrol used by a petrol car compared to a litre of diesel used by a diesel car. Revenue losses will compound with increased share of diesel cars and SUVs. Only in Delhi, this revenue loss amounts to close to Rs 300 crore. This can be mammoth on a nation-wide basis. “The government cannot justify this,” adds Roychoudhury.

The car industry is spawning the myth that fuel-efficient diesel cars will help save fuels and lower climate impacts. On the contrary, the market trend clearly shows that diesel is aiding a steady shift towards bigger cars that guzzle more fuel. While 85 per cent of the petrol cars sold in India have less than 1,200 cc engines, 64 per cent of diesel cars are just under 1,500 cc; the rest are all above. Despite fuel efficiency, bigger engines will always use more fuel and cheaper diesel fuel will encourage customers to opt for bigger and more powerful cars and thus undermine energy security. Higher petrol prices have effectively kept its market predominantly in small car segment.

CSE cautioned that cheaper diesel fuel will always encourage bigger cars, more driving and more fuel guzzling in the rebound. The ongoing India assessment of the International Council on Clean Transportation shows that these trends can lead to a cumulative loss of 6.5 mtoe (million tonne of oil equivalent) of energy between 2010 and 2020. This equals the fuel use of all four-wheeled passenger vehicles in 2006 — around 6.6 mtoe. This defeats the objective of improving India’s energy security.

Auto industry’s claim of greater fuel efficiency and lesser carbon emissions from diesel cars is unacceptable as diesel fuel has higher carbon content than petrol. If more diesel is burnt encouraged by its cheaper prices, more heat-trapping CO2 will escape. Also, black carbon emissions from diesel vehicles are several times more heat-trapping than CO2 and this nullifies fuel efficiency gains.

The car industry is pitching for tax concession for bigger cars and to stop increase in taxes on diesel cars in this budget when ‘clean’ diesel (diesel with less than 15 ppm of sulphur) is not available in the country.

CSE researchers demand that “the excise on big cars and SUVs must remain at 24 per cent and the special excise duty on bigger cars, MUVs and SUVs must be fully restored and increased in the forthcoming budget. This is a critical energy security measure.”

It is ironic that tax differential is being officially justified in the name of agriculture and freight, but rich car owners benefit more. Cars have already become the second biggest user of diesel and beneficiaries of the official tax policy. Cars use up 15 per cent of the total diesel in the country – compared to 12 per cent by buses and agriculture, 10 per cent by industry, and 6 per cent by the railways.

CSE has drawn attention of the Finance Minister to the global practices in which other governments have taken fiscal measures to discourage diesel in cars. In Brazil, diesel cars are actively discouraged because of the policy to keep taxes lower on diesel. In Denmark, diesel cars are taxed higher to offset the lower prices of diesel fuel. In China, taxes do not differentiate between petrol and diesel. The European Commission has calculated the difference in lifetime pollution costs of Euro IV compliant diesel car and petrol car. The total pollution cost of a Euro IV diesel car is 1,195 Euros vis-a-vis 846 Euros for a petrol car. This nullifies the marginal greenhouse gas reduction benefit of diesel car and costs higher to the society.

The Finance Minister can not afford to ignore the economic and environmental consequences of diesel pricing. Several committees including Kirit Parikh Committee have already recommended additional excise duty to eliminate the incentives arising from the lower diesel taxes.

Tax measures are absolutely necessary to discourage diesel cars until the time India introduced clean diesel (diesel fuel with 10 ppm sulphur used along with advanced emissions control systems) nation-wide. Otherwise, health risk associated with conventional diesel emissions is very serious. Some of the deadliest air toxics, also carcinogens, are related to diesel emissions. These are even blamed for killing unborn foetuses. According to WHO and other international regulatory and scientific agencies diesel particulates are carcinogens.

What CSE demands

• Additional, substantial and effective excide duty on diesel cars to prevent dieselization of car segment.
• Align small diesel car definition with that of petrol. Currently small petrol car is legally defined as one with length not exceeding 4,000 mm and with an engine capacity not exceeding 1,200 cc. For diesel small car this has been relaxed to 1,500 cc for diesel cars. Make it same as small petrol car for the purpose of tax measures.
• Fully restore 24 per cent excise and increase further the special duty on all big cars.
• Taxes must also begin to reflect the actual fuel use in cars to prevent shift towards bigger cars that use more fuel and threaten energy security.

For more details, please contact Anumita Roychoudhury at anumita@cseindia.org. To set up interviews with CSE researchers and experts, write to Papia Samajdar at papia@cseindia.org, or speak to her at 99108 64339

Vinod is a visionary entrepreneur and early stage investor focused on making a difference in growing economies. He is a distinguished Fulbright Scholar and an alumnus of Indian Institute of Management (Bangalore) and Carnegie Mellon University (USA). Prior to co-founding Enzen Group, Vinod has played leadership roles in MNCs covering a number of industries including Energy, Utilities, Engineering, Financial Services etc spanning Europe, US and Asia. Previous awards & recognitions include AIAF Award for Excellence in National Development, Platts Global Energy Award etc. Vinod is also an acknowledged mentor and is an invited member of Entrepreneurship Development Centres at prestigious educational and research institutions like IITs & IIMs.

The International India Innovation Summit held over 2 days is aimed at developing an insight into creating a mindset for Innovation. The objective of the conference was to help organizations create and build a culture and opportunity for Innovation. “Our Star Entrepreneurs were chosen after great research and due diligence for their inspiring achievements. As an appreciation for his good work and contribution to Innovation we are delighted in conferring Mr. Vinod Nair with the Star Entrepreneur Award” said Mr Tony Blanchard, Global Chairman of India Innovation Summit. He added “This award is a testimony to the innovation and impact that is possible when sustainable inclusive growth is pursued”

The Indira India Innovation Summit is governed by a Global Advisory Council chaired by Dr. Saurabh Srivastava, Founder and past Chairman of NASSCOM, Chairman of the Indian Venture Capital Association, Chairman Emeritus of TIE Delhi, Co Founder of the Indian Angel Network. Other awardees at the 4th Indira India Innovation Summit included the Tata team that designed and built the Tata Nano car, Suzlon Group, HCL etc.

NAVI-MUMBAI, INDIA. December, 2010—Surmount was recognized for its contribution to Industrial Development and was awarded the ‘Indian Achievers Award for Emerging Companies’ at the 26th Indian Achievers Summit on ‘The Challenges of Economic Growth and Social Development’ that was held on November 22nd, 2010, at the Nation’s Capital, Delhi.

Surmount is engaged on flag-bearing Energy Efficient and Sustainable Projects across the country. Apart from offering Green Consultancy and Analytical Services, Surmount focuses on developing hardware and software to meet technological requirements of Indian builders and developers. Since its inception 3 years ago, Surmount has been launching many innovative solutions for the construction space at a rapid pace.

As far as Mr. Balbir Singh Khera, CEO of Surmount Energy Solutions is concerned; the Indian Achievers Award is just the beginning. “We have worked hard in this direction”, he says, “This award has been given at the National level but we have been getting requests for partnerships and joint-ventures from global organizations”.

Bangalore, December 16, 2010; Wipro became the first Indian company to join Greenpeace’s CoolIT Leaderboard rankings that assesses companies on their commitments and actions on energy and climate solutions. It featured in the top 10 of a list that includes many global IT majors.
Greenpeace (GP) released Ver 4 of the CoolIT Leaderboard rankings at Cancun, where this year’s global climate change meet is being held. According to the report, Wipro stands out for its transparent mitigation plan that front loads energy efficiency and direct renewable energy purchase and installation.
Mr. Anurag Behar, Chief Sustainability Officer at Wipro said, “IT companies can and need to be catalysts for the kind of change that the energy sector requires today to build a sustainable ecosystem. We are happy to be in the top ten in our very first instance of participation. The ranking is a reflection of our commitment to making sustainability integral to our business; something which we will continue to emphasize and build upon in the coming years.”
The CoolIT Leaderboard evaluates top IT companies across the spectrum on their efforts to provide economy-wide climate solutions, reduce emissions from their own operations, and lobby for science-based climate and energy policies. The latest assessment of 17 global IT companies by Greenpeace reveals signs of climate leadership and penalizes inaction.
Wipro’s sustainability initiatives include – working jointly with education and civil society networks on sustainability programs, engaging with government bodies to shape policies on green, minimizing Wipro’s internal footprint on energy, water and waste and providing products and solutions that enable customers to become greener.
For more on Wipro’s sustainability initiatives, please visit: http://wipro.org/sustainability/index.htm.
About Wipro Ltd
Wipro Limited provides comprehensive IT solutions and services, including systems integration, information systems outsourcing, IT enabled services, package implementation, software application development and maintenance, and research and development services to corporations globally. Wipro Limited is the first PCMM Level 5 and SEI CMM Level 5 certified IT Services Company globally. In the Indian market, Wipro is a leader in providing IT solutions and services for the corporate segment in India offering system integration, network integration, software solutions and IT services. In the Asia Pacific and Middle East markets, Wipro provides IT solutions and services for global corporations. Wipro also has profitable presence in niche market segments of consumer products and lighting. Wipro’s ADSs are listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and its equity shares are listed in India on the Stock Exchange – Mumbai, and the National Stock Exchange. For more information, please visit our websites at www.wipro.com and www.wipro.in
Wipro’s forward looking and cautionary statements
Certain statements in this release concerning our future growth prospects and our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions are forward looking statements, which involve a number of risks, and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding our ability to integrate and manage acquired IT professionals, our ability to integrate acquired assets in a cost effective and timely manner, fluctuations in earnings, our ability to manage growth, intense competition in IT services including those factors which may affect our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which Wipro has made strategic investments, withdrawal of fiscal governmental incentives, political instability, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, unauthorized use of our intellectual property and general economic conditions affecting our industry. Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. These filings are available at http://www.sec.gov/. Wipro may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward looking statements, including statements contained in the company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. Wipro does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the company.
For Further Information, please contact:
Wipro Limited
Media
Radha Radhakrishnan
+91 9845328030
radha.rk@wipro.com
Investors
Aravind Viswanathan
+91 – 80 – 25056143
aravind.viswanathan@wipro.com

India needs re-development: Pachauri; A Climate Deal at Cancun Possible: Delbeke

BRUSSELS, Addressing the opening session of the 11^th India-EU Business Summit, Dr. R.K. Pachauri, Chairman of the Intergovermental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said that the world needs a new development paradigm, or redevelopment. He defined redevelopment as a model that ensured that allows the present generation to meet their material needs without compromising the ability of future generations to do the same. Dr. Pachauri complimented the organizers for choosing sustainable development as the theme for the 11^th India-EU business summit and said that India and EU are natural partners in the process of sustainable development. Pointing to the fact that the EU already was a world leader in the process of re-development that focused on greater sustainability of natural resource use, he said that Indian businesses could seek strategic partnerships with EU counterparts in this area.

Speaking earlier, Mr. Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General CII, said that India and EU are embarking on a unique experiment in which a large industrialized economic grouping like the EU and large sub-continental emerging economy like India are entering into a bilateral trade agreement. Mr. Banerjee felt that a successful bilateral agreement would also provide a catalyst for cooperation in the area of green technology and technology for clean energy.

Also addressing the opening session of the India-EU Business Summit was Mr. Jos Delbeke, the lead official for climate change negotiations at the Cancun talks. Mr. Delbeke was of the opinion that a possible deal is in the offing at Cancun, and that negotiations in South Africa next year would enable the international community to design a successor to the Kyoto Protocol

India-EU Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement will be finalized by Spring of 2011

Mr. Anand Sharma, Minister Commerce and Industry, was optimistic that the India-EU Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement will be successfully concluded by spring of 2011. The Minister was addressing the Plenary session of the 11^th India-EU Business Summit being held in Brussels. Mr. Sharma referred to the fact that while there were challenges and disagreements, both sides have made a firm commitment to the idea of free trade. Mr. Sharma reminded the delegates present at the summit that both India and EU have pushed on with negotiations despite the adverse impact of the global economic crisis and the increase in protectionist tendencies that went against the idea of trade liberalization as represented by the India-EU BTIA. The Minister pointed out that the governments were just putting the building blocks in place, it is now upto businesses to use this agreement to make the India-EU bilateral trade and economic relationship one the drivers of global commerce.

Speaking earlier, Mr. Karel de Gucht, the EU Trade Commissioner, complimented the hard work done by officials of both countries in keeping the momentum going in the negotiations for the EU-India BTIA. Mr. de Gucht said that the real owners of this agreement were the business communities of both countries who have stayed engaged with each other and provided support to both governments to make this trade agreement a possibility.

In his remarks, Mr. Hari Bhartia, President CII and Co-chairman Jubilant Bhartia Group, said that India and the EU are natural partners. Mr. Bhartia said that India’s demand for infrastructure development, and need to invest in skilling upto 500 million young workers in the coming years provided a huge opportunity for EU businesses. He stressed on the fact that as EU businesses globalize, they would need to leverage the skills available in emerging economies like India. Welcoming the optimism of the Ministers, Mr. Bhartia said that the Indian industry is looking forward to a successful completion of the India-EU BTIA. He reminded the audience that both India and EU economies share the commonality of having a large SME sector that is the backbone of their economy, especially exports. A successful EU-India BTIA would reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers that impose far greater costs proportionally on SMEs then they do on large firms, and reduce their ability to participate in global markets, he said.

Brussels

11^th December 2010

Neelam Joshi

Media Desk

Confederation of Indian Industry

23, Institutional Area

Lodi Road

New Delhi – 110 003

Mobile: 9810882431

As the negotiators battle it out at Cancun to pave way for a deal in climate change, India circulated a proposal called International Consultation and Analysis (ICA), as a middle path on the controversial issue of transparency on mitigation actions. This mechanism would essentially mean third-party monitoring of domestic targets and mitigation actions, something that violates the basic premise of the global climate debate.

CSE comes down hard on proposal to allow international scrutiny of domestic targets

• Says the proposal on international measurement and verification of domestic targets is an uncalled for compromise at best and will not yield any positive result
• Will ultimately lead to the removal of distinction between developed and developing nations
• What we need is an agreement on the critical issue of funding and funding mechanisms, as well as transfer of technology for mitigation
• The world needs drastic emission reduction targets, not a compromise to whitewash the world’s biggest pollution, namely the US.

New Delhi, December 3, 2010: The strategy paper on ICA circulated by India at Cancun can best be described as a compromise and the proposal by the Union environment ministry on international measurement and verification of domestic targets will be counter-productive, ultimately leading to removal of distinction between developed and developing nations. The proposal is an ill-disguised effort on the part of India to be a deal-maker for the US,” said Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).

The ministry regards the Copenhagen Accord as a grand bargain where Annex 1 countries agreed to provide fast track finance (US $30 billion) for adaptation in vulnerable countries like Bangladesh and Maldives. In return, emerging economies (the countries in the BASIC group) agreed to a regime where their actions would be measured, reviewed and verified (MRV).

Points out CSE director Sunita Narain, “It is important to understand that MRV is a tool to remove differences between Annex 1 and non-Annex 1 nations. Therefore, even if our mitigation actions are voluntary and domestic, now they will be both reported and verified. This becomes a backhand way of breaching the firewall between industrialized countries with historical emissions and responsibility to cut emissions and the rest of the world, which needs the rights to development. This is why the US has made it clear that all other action in the negotiations will be dependent on the progress made in this area.”

Understandably, many countries are not in favour of the compromised solution on MRV and believe that the industrialized world has done too little on its part of the bargain, for any further concessions to be made. The Indian environment minister had first tabled the strategy paper before the conference of parties at Mexico City in which the new term ICA was coined for MRV. He also reportedly proposed that “all countries whose emissions have crossed 1-2 per cent of world GHG emissions will take on MRV/ICA”.

This would mean that there are only six countries who will qualify to be on that list — China, US, Russia, India, Japan and Germany. This way, CSE points out, the distinction between Annex 1 countries and the rest will be removed.

Deal-maker for the US? Why?

Says Narain: “It is not clear why India wants to be the deal-maker for the US at this stage. The US has not given lived up to its basic and minimum agreement, arrived at Copenhagen. They have not made any funds available. Why are we bending backwards to make even more concessions, without getting anything in return?”

In Copenhagen, the industrialized world had agreed that it would make US$ 30 billion available between 2010-2012 to pay for adaptation cost in the most vulnerable countries and that this financing would be ramped up to US$ 100 billion by 2020. This was itself a pittance of what was actually needed. But what is worse is that no new and additional funds have been made available and now the developing world is being told that it must go to the private sector to look for funding.

The Copenhagen Accord is fundamentally flawed for this reason as it changes the basic framework of the climate agreement, which asks for drastic action from the historical polluters and provides the rights to development for emerging countries. India in the past has rightly made it clear that it is not looking for the right to pollute but is demanding a framework, which will make transition to clean and low carbon energy.

It is also a fact, says CSE that the US has gone back on its commitment to cut emissions. In Copenhagen it had agreed to a weak and pathetic target of 17 per cent below 2005 levels, which translates to 3 per cent below 1990 levels. Now it says it cannot even do this. It says it will try and do close to 14 per cent below 2005 levels, which means no cuts at 1990 levels. This, when it is well accepted, based on science and politics that the US, has to cut up to 40 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020.

The Indian government, points out Chandra Bhushan, CSE’s deputy director, must work towards commitment of deep emission cuts from the developed countries by 2020. As a recent report by the UNEP clearly shows, all the pledges made under Copenhagen Accord are still not sufficient to keep the world under the 2 degree target. “The Indian government must insist on a commitment by developed countries to 40 per cent emission cuts by 2020 from the 1990 baseline.”

Says Narain: “CSE believes that Cancun must focus on the urgent need to cut emissions in fast warming world. It is evident that the industrialized countries continue to renege on their promise of cutting emissions at the scale that is needed. They want to pass the pain of the transition to countries like India. India must make it clear that we want an effective and equitous deal. Nothing less is acceptable.”

• For more details on climate related matters, contact Aditya Ghosh, Senior Coordinator (Climate Change), on g_aditya@cseindia.org. +919811540353
• You can also check related material and regular Cancun updates on the website, http://www.cseindia.org/content/cse-cop-16-cancun
• For appointments and interviews, please contact Papia Samajdar at papia@cseindia.org, +9198119 06977