In a major boost to infra projects in the country, the central government has cruises ahead with giving environmental clearance to 900 infrastructure projects entailing a staggering investment worth Rs. 6 lakh-cr in the past 20 months, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said, explaining that the current regime has decided that environmental clearance should not be a "roadblock" for development. This is despite the fact that opposition parties and environmentalists have been accusing the regime of not proceeding on several projects for want of environmental clearances. As a matter of fact, the government's commitment is reflected in every programme being pursued and also revealed the government's ambitious 175 Giga Watt renewable energy programme, covering solar, wind, hydro-power and nuclear energy as a major step in promoting environment-friendly development. India had taken pro-active measures to discourage use of fossil fuels in a bid to reduce carbon footprint. The Union Budget 2016-17 has levied a green cess of $6 (Rs 400) per tonne of coal, the highest levy in the world, as even the United States taxes coal at around $1. He also listed out plans to control vehicular pollution by moving to Bharat VI emission norms, policies on waste management and massive tree plantation drive through the Compensatory Afforestaton Fund Bill 2015 as various other measures have also been aimed at sustainable development without disturbing the ecological balance in the region.
