Add Your Photos and Video to This Story

Nano not transport solution for India: Pachauri

by slenderdog | February 6, 2008 at 10:14 am | 332 views | add comment

New Delhi: The launch of the Rs1-lakh car was received with scepticism by Dr RK Pachauri, head of the UN body on climate change, which this year shared the Nobel Peace Prize with former US vice-president Al Gore.

“This is not the transport option for the country of a billion people many of whom cannot afford to buy even a bus ticket,’’ said Dr Pachauri...

To a question, he said it would be wrong to think that the Tata car
would be a substitute for two wheelers. It would be just an add-on to
the chaotic traffic conditions.

Dr Pachauri blamed the policy
makers for the increasing road congestion in Indian cities and towns,
and said users of cars should be made to pay for the road space they
were using. Giving the example of central London, he said the
imposition of heavy user charge on those entering that part of the city
had yielded results, so there was no reason that similar measures in
Delhi should fail.

The manufacturers of the Nano have claimed that emissions from the car will be minimal. But Mr Pachauri's point seems to be that the Tata Nano is not a realistic aspiration for many Indians, who would be better served by public transport.

Perhaps they would be better served by public transport, but the freedom afforded the car owner is a great driver of economic an social progress. Certainly there are social costs, but no amount of investment in public transport or imposition of congestion charges will deter Indians from acquiring cars as soon as they can afford them. The challenge is to learn from the experiences of developed countries, adopting their successes and avoiding their failures. If the Indian authorities view cars as revenue sources, let us hope they invest the proceeds of taxes and charges in improving India's roads, which would bring economic benefits to many.

As to the negative aspects of wider car ownership: we would argue that these are negligible compared to the potential improvements in living standards that could result. It is to be hoped that India will seek to develop sensibly, but it would be foolish to impede the development of the Indian car industry.