India has had two years of poor monsoons, which have hit farmers and the government have to be seen as responsive,” said Saran, the analyst. Winning these might help the BJP overcome political opposition to their reform plans at national level. The budget appeared aimed largely at India’s massive rural population, possibly with an eye on forthcoming state elections. In his annual union budget, Jaitley imposed a sales levy of up to 4% on new passenger vehicles, effective immediately, spurring a selloff by investors in stocks in some of India’s biggest automobile companies such as Maruti Suzuki India Ltd and Tata Motors. Though it made little impact on pollution levels, the scheme was credited with raising consciousness of the problem across the country and seen as a success. The measures are to be repeated in April. Two coal-burning power stations were also shut. Municipal authorities in Delhi and elsewhere have struggled to cope with the problem, hampered by political infighting, poor law enforcement and public ignorance.Īfter a particularly severe bout of pollution last year, the chief minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, announced a scheme to cut traffic, and thus pollution, by allowing cars with licence plates ending in odd and even numbers to drive only on alternate days. This is needed to address the fuel tax distortion in the market that favours polluting technologies and fuels like diesel.” “ finance minister has finally integrated polluter pays principle with fiscal policy to slap a pollution on all cars is more than double on diesel cars and four times more on SUVs compared to petrol cars. This is an important step forward,” said Anumita Roychoudhry, of the Centre for Science and Environment in Delhi. Medical experts have predicted huge health problems as tens of millions of children grow up breathing very poor air. India is home to many of the most polluted cities in the world, with levels of harmful particles in Delhi, the capital, regularly exceeding European and US safe limits by 15 or 20 times. Now this sort of tax is seen as Indians being responsible,” said Samir Saran, of the Observer Research Foundation, a Delhi-based thinktank. Once Indians owning cars was seen as a sign of economic success. ![]() Jaitley has seen there is political space and public support. ![]() “There are some things that are politically palatable now that were not before. Commentators said the move showed how attitudes to car use had changed in India.
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