Oh, Great - Modi Budget Slashes Environmental Spending By 25%, Renewable Energy By More Than 2/3rds

[hatrack]

NEW DELHI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Environmentalists in India have expressed alarm over the new budget of the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which they say heralds substantial cuts in environmental programmes and fails to address the country’s worsening pollution and vulnerability to climate change.

The budget for the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change for the fiscal year beginning April 1 has been reduced by 25 percent, from 22.6 billion Indian rupees ($360 million) to 16.8 billion rupees ($268 million). In his budget speech, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced an increase in the target for renewable energy generating capacity, to 175,000 megawatts by 2022. But the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy will see its funding for the coming year reduced by more than two-thirds, to 3 billion rupees ($48 million).

"There is a disconnect between the budget speech and the allocations,” said Chandra Bhushan, deputy director general of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a research and advocacy organisation based in Delhi.

"The budget speech sets ambitious targets for renewables, but this has not been matched with allocations for the ministry. Allocations for solar for rural (use) and for research on renewable (energy have) also been reduced,” Bhushan said

EDIT

http://in.reuters.com/article/2015/03/12/india-budget-energy-idINKBN0M812D20150312

[Nihil]

1. "Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them."

> Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
> Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
> A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

"There is a disconnect between the budget speech and the allocations.”

Only in the minds of the naive who were hoping for change.
(Hmmm ... where else has that pattern been seen?)