Cement, Energy and Environment

\ to all, and hence provided opportunities to foreign suppliers. Two, while the VGF was a financial support and comprised 30 per cent of the project's financia l cost (to be given in instalments), the government guidelines did not specifically deny such funding for project developers under open bid schemes. It remains a moot point whether such VGF may be treated as a subsidy to developers using local content. Energy self-sufficiency Solar energy has the advantage of being available in plenty, with about 5,000 trillion kWh per year incident over India's land area with most parts receiving 4-7 kWh per sq. m per day. It is environment-friendly and cost effective in the long run . However, with the current costs of generating solar power being exorbitant, the incentives for tapping the vast solar energy potential by private producers would be practically nil. In this context, what is interesting is the US use of multiple incentives for its own consumers to encourage solar energy use, as also local content. This should help overcome the national treatment obligation, give a fillip to manufacturers of solar energy, as also inculcate green technology use. Energy frameworks in India are too crucial to be left to fate and the WTO. The writer teaches economics at the SP Jain Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai. The views are personal Courtesy: The Economic Times, New Delhi Aug 23, 2015, on Internet GOVT APPROVAL TO DEVELOP 50 SOLAR CITIES The ministry of new and renewable energy has approved a proposed master plan to develop 50 solar cities , including three in the national capital region. Out of the proposed 60 solar cities, sanctions have been issued for 50 cities that include New Delhi, Agra, Chandigarh, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Amritsar, New Town (Kolkata), Howrah, Madhyamgram, Kochi and Bhopal , Thus, in addition to a 30 per cent federal tax according to the information available on the credit, US consumers can avail of significant state ministry's website. and local incentives to reduce their costs of solar photovoltaic systems. Can we then approach the problem differently? There are limited ways in which the problem of national treatment obligation can be avoided. For instance, if the solar energy so produced is procured by the government for its own use, it may not fall within the purview of WTO norms, particularly ASCM. However, as the Canadian Feed-In-Tariff programme case at the WTO demonstrated, such procurements may yet be challenged. Given that scalability is important, the government can think of providing incentives to Of these 50 cities, master plans have been prepared for 46 cities, including Agra, Gandhinagar, Rajkot, Surat, Thane, Shirdi , Nagpur, Chandigarh, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Bilaspur, Raipur, Agartala, Guwahati, Mysore, Shimla, Hamirpur, Jodhpur, Vijayawada, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Dehradun, Panaji and New Delhi (NDMC area), it added. Further, in-principle approvals have been given to five cities namely Thiruvananthapuram, Jaipur, Indore, Leh and Mahbubnagar, it said. "Master plan of Indore has been prepared and the other corporations, state nodal agencies are in the process of engaging consu ltants for preparation of master plans, "the ministry said. The consumers to adopt solar-friendly products in the ministry had empanelled 26 consultants in June form of tax credits for all solar power packages for 2009 to prepare master plan for the development residential or commercial use. of solar cities. States, additionally, can provide further tax courtesy: credits. The Hindu, New Delhi Aug 23, 2015, on Internet