FM should not buckle under pressure from auto industry

New Delhi, Feb 15 (UNI) Finance Minister P Chidambaram must not buckle under pressure from the auto industry by giving more tax sops in the forthcoming Union Budget to be presented before Parliament on February 28, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) said today.

The missive from CSE to Mr Chidambaram warned that India could see a worsening of the energy crisis if urgent tax corrections in the budget were not introduced to avert oil guzzling, 'dieselisation' and increasing vehicular pollution.

''It is unfortunate that the oil price shock of the last year has receded so fast from public memory. There is no policy urgency to address deepening of energy insecurity due to rising number of cars supported by tax incentives,'' CSE Associate Director Anumita Roychoudhury and leader of the study team said.

The CSE in its latest study said the country was in the grip of an impending energy crisis because it was consuming more oil than ever before spearheaded by the transport sector which is an energy guzzler.

''State-sponsored car boom, without any efforts towards making cars more fuel-efficient, is inciting oil guzzling that the country cannot afford,'' the study pointed out.

Based on the findings of the study released here, CSE proposed a set of immediate tax corrections to Mr Chidambaram to deal with the challenges of motorisation, pollution and energy insecurity.

''Union Budget must address the linkage between vehicles and energy insecurity.'' The transport sector was the single biggest user of oil and oil products, using up around 30 per cent of the total consumption in the country, she added.

''Almost all the petrol used in the country is consumed by private vehicles, which also accounts for consumption of 62 per cent of the diesel in the transport sector. More and more vehicle manufacturers are introducing diesel variants.'' ''If the numbers and usage of cars grow unchecked and the government fails to introduce fuel economy standards to make them more fuel-efficient, India will hurtle towards a serious energy crisis.'' (EDS PICKING UP SUITABLEY FROM EARLIER SERIES) UNI