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Slashing GST on waste can unlock Rs 1.8 lakh crore, high tax hurting circular economy goals—CSE

The Indian government is sitting on a hidden revenue of lakhs of crores—from the waste recycling sector, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has said in a new report released Tuesday, arguing that reducing 18% Goods and Services Tax (GST) on several crucial waste categories could bring in Rs 1.8 lakh crore in additional revenue by 2035. Under the GST framework in India, scrap materials are treated as goods, and they are subject to GST when sold or traded. Further, the waste management sector in India is divided into the formal and informal sector. The formal sector consists of registered businesses that follow tax regulations, including GST, while the informal sector operates outside this framework. “Most small dealers who collect scrap cannot afford an 18% GST, so they keep their transactions cash-based and untaxed,” CSE said in a release on the report. “These unrecorded transactions lead to estimated Rs 65,000 crore annual GST losses for the government.” The report, titled ‘Relax the Tax: Facilitating Waste Circularity Ecosystem through GST Rationalization’, states how heavy GST rates on different products obstruct the circular economy around waste recycling in India. From the same tax rates for virgin and recycled products, to a high 18% GST on metal scrap, plastic waste and e-waste, the report explains how the existing GST regime doesn’t incentivise and actively hinders waste recycling. Waste recycling and circular economy are seen as pillars of India’s sustainable development policies, with Union Minister for Environment Bhupender Yadav announcing this March that India’s circular economy could create $2 trillion in market value by 2050. Initiatives like the NITI Aayog’s Circular Economy Cell and Circular Economy Action Plans for different waste categories like plastic, e-waste, industrial waste, hazardous waste and metal waste indicate the government’s efforts towards this end.

High GST on scrap, e-waste hurting India's circular economy: CSE study

he steep GST of 18 per cent levied on several crucial waste categories has become an obstacle in the sustainable management of solid waste in India and is also leading to revenue losses of around Rs 65,000 crore, according to a new study published on Tuesday. The study by think tank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) finds that small dealers who collect scrap cannot afford an 18-per cent GST, so they keep their transactions cash-based and untaxed. This not only deprives the government of revenue but also distorts the market, as compliant businesses struggle to compete with tax-evading informal operators.

Rajpura Plant: Lowest Emission Intensity

Nabha Power Limited (NPL) on Wednesday said its Rajpura thermal power plant has been named as the country's best-performing supercritical coal-based thermal power plant for emission intensity by think tank '? Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). It said it is in the below 800MW capacity unit category. NPL is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Larsen & Toubro. The thermal power plant is located in Punjab's Patiala district.

Rajpura Thermal Plant Tops Emission Efficiency Charts

Nabha Power Limited's Rajpura thermal power plant has been distinguished as the best-performing supercritical coal-based thermal facility in India concerning emission intensity, according to the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). This recognition comes under the below 800MW capacity unit category. A subsidiary of Larsen & Toubro, the plant is situated in Punjab's Patiala district. In its recent 'Decarbonizing the Coal-based Thermal Power Sector in India: A Roadmap' report, CSE highlighted the Rajpura plant's impressive 0.84 tonne/MWh emission factor, surpassing the average national figure of 0.97 tonne/MWh. Additionally, the plant boasts the industry's lowest auxiliary power consumption rate at 4.62%.

‘Not number but where tigers thrive matters’

Madhya Pradesh — often hailed as India's ‘Tiger State' — leads the nation in tiger numbers. But with this success comes the challenge of managing a growing big cat population, maintaining ecological balance, and tackling persistent human-wildlife conflict. Adding to the complexity are rapid diversions of forest land for non-forest use, encroachments into key corridors, and the mounting pressures of climate change. In this context, P Naveen spoke with additional principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife), MP, L Krishnamurthy. In a candid discussion, he outlined the department's focus areas — from strengthening corridors and improving habitats to using technology and empowering communities — and shared his vision for the state's tiger conservation journey. Excerpts from the interview… How many are too many? When it comes to tiger numbers in the state, what is Madhya Pradesh's target population? n We can't fix the numbers. The department is focusing on consolidating the landscape through protection, habitat management, corridor management, and community engagement in wildlife conservation. That said, we still have some tiger reserves and forest areas, like the proposed Omkareshwar Wildlife Sanctuary, where more tigers can be supported. The main focus is on landscape consolidation rather than chasing a specific number. How many tigers can Madhya Pradesh realistically support without leading to excessive human-wildlife conflict? n Tiger numbers can be estimated based on the ecological carrying capacity of each tiger reserve and protected area. However, it's equally important to consider the social carrying capacity — that is, the willingness and ability of communities to coexist with large carnivores. Our goal is to keep tiger populations connected through functional corridors, which helps reduce conflict in and around tiger reserves. What plans are in place to manage the tiger population as it approaches the state's ecological carrying capacity? n Under the leadership of the chief minister, we have expanded our network of protected areas by adding new tiger reserves and sanctuaries. We've also developed comprehensive strategies including the State Wildlife Action Plan, a State Elephant Management Plan, and the use of Artificial Intelligence in wildlife monitoring and conflict reduction. We're also promoting ecotourism, creating livelihood opportunities, and running awareness programs. Each tiger reserve has a Tiger Conservation Plan, and protected areas are governed by detailed management plans. The State of India's Environment 2025 report by CSE states that Madhya Pradesh has diverted the highest amount of forest land (38,553 hectares) for non-forest use. How much of this diversion occurred within designated tiger corridors or ecologically sensitive zones? n In cases where land is diverted from within corridor areas, we receive equivalent revenue land under the Forest Conservation Act (FCA) provisions. Additionally, mitigation measures are implemented to ensure that wildlife movement is not disrupted, following the recommendations of the State Board for Wildlife (SBWL) and the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL). The proportion of land diverted from within Ecologically Sensitive Zones (ESZs) and tiger corridors is a small fraction of the total—excluding Panna, where we've taken a landscape-level approach with the Greater Panna Landscape Management Plan.

GST Hindrance in India's Waste Management: A Call for Tax Reforms

According to a study by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), an 18% GST on crucial waste categories is obstructing sustainable waste management in India and causing revenue losses amounting to Rs 65,000 crore. The high tax rate forces small scrap dealers to operate informally, bypassing the formal tax system. The study highlights how the informal sector, handling up to 90% of certain waste streams like e-waste and metal scrap, leads to an estimated annual GST loss of Rs 65,000 crore. If unchecked, this figure could swell to Rs 86,700 crore by 2035, overshadowing circular economy efforts. Experts suggest reducing GST rates on metal scrap, plastics, and e-waste from 18% to 12% or even 5% to promote compliance and sustain revenue neutrality. They call for formalizing informal workers through integration into government schemes and tying GST benefits to EPR compliance to motivate recycling efforts.

Can Tesla, VinFast and other foreign EV firms thrive in the Indian market?

Ms Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director of research and advocacy at the Centre for Science and Environment, said: “For India, electrification is not just an opportunity to clean up the environment, but it is also an industrial opportunity.” As growth in electric vehicle (EV) sales slows down in the US and Europe, competition is accelerating in India’s nascent electric car market with the entry of billionaire Elon Musk’s Tesla and Asian carmakers, such as Vietnam’s VinFast and China’s Leapmotor. India is the world’s third-largest car market in terms of domestic vehicle sales, and it is predicted to overtake the US and China to become the largest by 2030. The government hopes that electric cars will make up 30 per cent of total car sales by then, up from a mere 2.5 per cent out of the 4.3 million cars sold in 2024. But India is also a challenging market with price-conscious consumers, limited charging infrastructure, difficult road conditions, and high import duties on foreign cars. Telsa drove into the Indian market in July with two variants of its Model Y, a popular electric sport utility vehicle (SUV), which come with a hefty starting price tag of around US$70,000 (S$90,000), compared with just US$37,490 in the US, according to Forbes India. A key reason was the import duty, which can rise to 110 per cent, making the SUV more expensive in India than in many other countries. Tesla, which is currently operating in Mumbai and plans to expand to Delhi, is testing the market, said Mr Srihari Mulgund, India new age mobility partner at EY-Parthenon India, a consulting company. “They are trying to see how the market perceives the product. There will be learning, and it will help them develop an India product strategy,” he noted. The government is working to expand infrastructure for charging EVs, which will be key to their acceptance. More than 12,000 EV charging stations were in use nationwide in 2024, and the government aims to have 3.9 million by 2030. Leading up to Tesla’s entry on July 15, Mr Musk had criticised the high import duties, remarking that they were “the highest in the world by far, of any large country”. The US is negotiating lower automotive tariffs as part of the India-US trade deal. Tesla, which competes in the luxury EV sector, has ruled out manufacturing in India, according to Heavy Industries Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy. Operating on a different model in another part of the cost spectrum is Vietnamese EV-maker VinFast, which was named one of Time’s 100 most influential companies in 2024. It is taking orders for two premium SUVs, which will be priced in the range of 1.8 million rupees (S$26,500) to 3.5 million rupees, according to Indian media reports. VinFast opened its first showroom in the city of Surat, in the western state of Gujarat, on July 27, and its second in the city of Chennai, in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, on Aug 2. It has also tied up with local partners to create a charging network and for after-sales service, with plans to launch 35 dealerships by the year end in 27 cities. According to VinFast’s press release, its car assembly plant in Tamil Nadu is the company’s third operational facility globally. The facility, which is part of a 160 billion rupee investment pact inked between VinFast and the Tamil Nadu government in 2024, will initially make 50,000 vehicles per year. VinFast Asia chief executive Pham Sanh Chau told NDTV news channel: “This plant lays a solid foundation for us to make Tamil Nadu not just a manufacturing hub for India, but also VinFast’s largest export base for South Asia, the Middle East and Africa.” Mr Puneet Gupta, director for India and Asean markets at S&P Global Mobility, said: “Tesla and VinFast will both serve as catalysts in driving up EV market share in India. They are expected to attract greater attention from consumers towards electric vehicles and help increase confidence in EV technology.” Chinese automobile start-up Leapmotor’s electric cars are also being launched in India, by multinational automotive manufacturing corporation Stellantis, which will assemble the vehicles. India is hoping that such assembly plants, which are at the lower end of manufacturing, will be the starting point for building a manufacturing ecosystem of EVs. While domestic EV manufacturers are keen to protect their turf, the government is encouraging foreign carmakers to come to India and make it their EV manufacturing hub in the region. Consumers with higher purchasing power are turning to EVs Sales of electric cars are inching up in India, the world’s fourth-largest economy. In 2024, 99,165 electric cars were sold, which is a 20 per cent increase over the previous year, according to the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations. EV growth in India has been led by two- and three-wheelers that accounted for a majority of the over two million EVs sold in 2024. The growth is not coming from the entry-level segment, but SUVs – where cars start at around one million rupees – and the premium segment. Consumers with more purchasing power, who own more than one car and are aware of environmental concerns, are likely leading the trend, said analysts. When Mr Surinder Gera decided to replace his 11-year-old diesel car with an electric SUV, he spent as much time convincing his 21-year-old son, with whom he runs the family clothing manufacturing business, as he did researching cars and the charging infrastructure. The family already owns a petrol car. “He told me it’s too much of a risk, as we travel a lot for our business. But I convinced him. I wanted to bring down my family’s carbon footprint,” said the 47-year-old businessman, who is based in the northern Indian city of Ludhiana. In addition, Mr Gera charted every location he had visited in the last five years to see whether charging stations were present along each route. He settled on an SUV made by domestic automobile company Mahindra & Mahindra, which fell within his budget. Mahindra’s electric car line-up starts at around 1.5 million rupees. Vocal for local Unlike in other parts of the world, where Chinese EV companies have been rapidly increasing their market share, domestic manufacturers dominate the market in India. China’s BYD’s, the world’s biggest EV-maker, had a US$1 billion investment plan rejected in 2023 amid geopolitical tensions between India and China. So BYD scaled down its plans for India and relies on its assembly plant in the southern city of Chennai, which has an annual capacity of 10,000 to 15,000 units. BYD also imports many of the cars it sells in India. Things may improve for Chinese companies as China and India seek to repair ties following a 2020 clash on their border. Tata leads with over half of the market share in the electric car segment, followed by MG Motor, which is a joint venture between India’s JSW Group and China’s Saic Motor. They are followed by Mahindra & Mahindra and China’s BYD. Tata Motors, which once had a 70 per cent share, is finding its dominance in the Indian market challenged as more competitors come in with new car models and offer innovations like allowing buyers to lease EV batteries. In response, Tata Motors plans to have around 15 models by 2030. Mahindra & Mahindra in 2024 also announced plans to introduce seven new EVs by 2030. Long and winding road for foreign car brands Newcomers face a squeeze between the competition and aspirational buyers who want multiple features at a low price, said EY’s Mr Mulgund. “India is a very heterogeneous market. There is the rural and urban divide. Building up a dealership and service is no mean feat, and finding the right partners takes time. It can be built, but it’s a longer gestation period,” he said. “The (EV) market is not massive. Price becomes a critical part of any proposition. Indian customers are also ambitious. They want a car at the right price point but want all the bells and whistles. That is a difficult proposition to beat. You need a certain level of scale to deliver that.” Government push In order to push foreign carmakers to manufacture in India, the government in 2025 launched the Scheme to Promote Manufacturing of Electric Passenger Cars in India. Under the scheme, Customs duty is cut to 15 per cent, provided that automakers invest a minimum of 41.5 billion rupees within three years. They can then import 8,000 electric cars with a cost, insurance and freight value of US$35,000 subject to the 15 per cent tax per car. So far, Tesla has not shown interest, while other car manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz, Skoda-Volkswagen, Hyundai and Kia have indicated interest, according to Mr Kumaraswamy, the minister. Volvo Car India’s managing director Jyoti Malhotra told news agency Press Trust of India that, given the level of investment required, the company would do best to continue to assemble its cars in India, as it is doing, for now. As more benefits are seen, and we anticipate bigger scale, then we can evaluate others, he said. For India, going electric is an environmental imperative, given how pollution levels are climbing in its urban centres. According to the World Air Quality Report 2024 by Swiss air-quality technology company IQAir, Delhi is the most polluted capital city in the world and India is the world’s fifth-most polluted country, down from No. 3 in 2023. Vehicular emissions contributed 51.5 per cent to Delhi’s pollution. Delhi has banned 10-year-old diesel and 15-year-old petrol cars, and on July 1, banned even the refuelling of such cars. Ms Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director of research and advocacy at the Centre for Science and Environment, said: “For India, electrification is not just an opportunity to clean up the environment, but it is also an industrial opportunity.” She noted that the government, apart from implementing manufacturing schemes needed to strengthen charging infrastructure, also needed to incentivise consumers more, citing measures like free parking for EVs. “In India, you require industry to develop its manufacturing capacity adequately. You need a supply chain of critical minerals and battery manufacturing. But the supply chain will evolve only if the (automobile) industry perceives there is a demand in the market. Both have to go hand in hand.”

Can Tesla, VinFast and other foreign EV firms thrive in the Indian market?

Ms Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director of research and advocacy at the Centre for Science and Environment, said: “For India, electrification is not just an opportunity to clean up the environment, but it is also an industrial opportunity.” As growth in electric vehicle (EV) sales slows down in the US and Europe, competition is accelerating in India’s nascent electric car market with the entry of billionaire Elon Musk’s Tesla and Asian carmakers, such as Vietnam’s VinFast and China’s Leapmotor. India is the world’s third-largest car market in terms of domestic vehicle sales, and it is predicted to overtake the US and China to become the largest by 2030. The government hopes that electric cars will make up 30 per cent of total car sales by then, up from a mere 2.5 per cent out of the 4.3 million cars sold in 2024. But India is also a challenging market with price-conscious consumers, limited charging infrastructure, difficult road conditions, and high import duties on foreign cars. Telsa drove into the Indian market in July with two variants of its Model Y, a popular electric sport utility vehicle (SUV), which come with a hefty starting price tag of around US$70,000 (S$90,000), compared with just US$37,490 in the US, according to Forbes India. A key reason was the import duty, which can rise to 110 per cent, making the SUV more expensive in India than in many other countries. Tesla, which is currently operating in Mumbai and plans to expand to Delhi, is testing the market, said Mr Srihari Mulgund, India new age mobility partner at EY-Parthenon India, a consulting company. “They are trying to see how the market perceives the product. There will be learning, and it will help them develop an India product strategy,” he noted. The government is working to expand infrastructure for charging EVs, which will be key to their acceptance. More than 12,000 EV charging stations were in use nationwide in 2024, and the government aims to have 3.9 million by 2030. Leading up to Tesla’s entry on July 15, Mr Musk had criticised the high import duties, remarking that they were “the highest in the world by far, of any large country”. The US is negotiating lower automotive tariffs as part of the India-US trade deal. Tesla, which competes in the luxury EV sector, has ruled out manufacturing in India, according to Heavy Industries Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy. Operating on a different model in another part of the cost spectrum is Vietnamese EV-maker VinFast, which was named one of Time’s 100 most influential companies in 2024. It is taking orders for two premium SUVs, which will be priced in the range of 1.8 million rupees (S$26,500) to 3.5 million rupees, according to Indian media reports. VinFast opened its first showroom in the city of Surat, in the western state of Gujarat, on July 27, and its second in the city of Chennai, in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, on Aug 2. It has also tied up with local partners to create a charging network and for after-sales service, with plans to launch 35 dealerships by the year end in 27 cities. According to VinFast’s press release, its car assembly plant in Tamil Nadu is the company’s third operational facility globally. The facility, which is part of a 160 billion rupee investment pact inked between VinFast and the Tamil Nadu government in 2024, will initially make 50,000 vehicles per year. VinFast Asia chief executive Pham Sanh Chau told NDTV news channel: “This plant lays a solid foundation for us to make Tamil Nadu not just a manufacturing hub for India, but also VinFast’s largest export base for South Asia, the Middle East and Africa.” Mr Puneet Gupta, director for India and Asean markets at S&P Global Mobility, said: “Tesla and VinFast will both serve as catalysts in driving up EV market share in India. They are expected to attract greater attention from consumers towards electric vehicles and help increase confidence in EV technology.” Chinese automobile start-up Leapmotor’s electric cars are also being launched in India, by multinational automotive manufacturing corporation Stellantis, which will assemble the vehicles. India is hoping that such assembly plants, which are at the lower end of manufacturing, will be the starting point for building a manufacturing ecosystem of EVs. While domestic EV manufacturers are keen to protect their turf, the government is encouraging foreign carmakers to come to India and make it their EV manufacturing hub in the region. Consumers with higher purchasing power are turning to EVs Sales of electric cars are inching up in India, the world’s fourth-largest economy. In 2024, 99,165 electric cars were sold, which is a 20 per cent increase over the previous year, according to the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations. EV growth in India has been led by two- and three-wheelers that accounted for a majority of the over two million EVs sold in 2024. The growth is not coming from the entry-level segment, but SUVs – where cars start at around one million rupees – and the premium segment. Consumers with more purchasing power, who own more than one car and are aware of environmental concerns, are likely leading the trend, said analysts. When Mr Surinder Gera decided to replace his 11-year-old diesel car with an electric SUV, he spent as much time convincing his 21-year-old son, with whom he runs the family clothing manufacturing business, as he did researching cars and the charging infrastructure. The family already owns a petrol car. “He told me it’s too much of a risk, as we travel a lot for our business. But I convinced him. I wanted to bring down my family’s carbon footprint,” said the 47-year-old businessman, who is based in the northern Indian city of Ludhiana. In addition, Mr Gera charted every location he had visited in the last five years to see whether charging stations were present along each route. He settled on an SUV made by domestic automobile company Mahindra & Mahindra, which fell within his budget. Mahindra’s electric car line-up starts at around 1.5 million rupees. Vocal for local Unlike in other parts of the world, where Chinese EV companies have been rapidly increasing their market share, domestic manufacturers dominate the market in India. China’s BYD’s, the world’s biggest EV-maker, had a US$1 billion investment plan rejected in 2023 amid geopolitical tensions between India and China. So BYD scaled down its plans for India and relies on its assembly plant in the southern city of Chennai, which has an annual capacity of 10,000 to 15,000 units. BYD also imports many of the cars it sells in India. Things may improve for Chinese companies as China and India seek to repair ties following a 2020 clash on their border. Tata leads with over half of the market share in the electric car segment, followed by MG Motor, which is a joint venture between India’s JSW Group and China’s Saic Motor. They are followed by Mahindra & Mahindra and China’s BYD. Tata Motors, which once had a 70 per cent share, is finding its dominance in the Indian market challenged as more competitors come in with new car models and offer innovations like allowing buyers to lease EV batteries. In response, Tata Motors plans to have around 15 models by 2030. Mahindra & Mahindra in 2024 also announced plans to introduce seven new EVs by 2030. Long and winding road for foreign car brands Newcomers face a squeeze between the competition and aspirational buyers who want multiple features at a low price, said EY’s Mr Mulgund. “India is a very heterogeneous market. There is the rural and urban divide. Building up a dealership and service is no mean feat, and finding the right partners takes time. It can be built, but it’s a longer gestation period,” he said. “The (EV) market is not massive. Price becomes a critical part of any proposition. Indian customers are also ambitious. They want a car at the right price point but want all the bells and whistles. That is a difficult proposition to beat. You need a certain level of scale to deliver that.” Government push In order to push foreign carmakers to manufacture in India, the government in 2025 launched the Scheme to Promote Manufacturing of Electric Passenger Cars in India. Under the scheme, Customs duty is cut to 15 per cent, provided that automakers invest a minimum of 41.5 billion rupees within three years. They can then import 8,000 electric cars with a cost, insurance and freight value of US$35,000 subject to the 15 per cent tax per car. So far, Tesla has not shown interest, while other car manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz, Skoda-Volkswagen, Hyundai and Kia have indicated interest, according to Mr Kumaraswamy, the minister. Volvo Car India’s managing director Jyoti Malhotra told news agency Press Trust of India that, given the level of investment required, the company would do best to continue to assemble its cars in India, as it is doing, for now. As more benefits are seen, and we anticipate bigger scale, then we can evaluate others, he said. For India, going electric is an environmental imperative, given how pollution levels are climbing in its urban centres. According to the World Air Quality Report 2024 by Swiss air-quality technology company IQAir, Delhi is the most polluted capital city in the world and India is the world’s fifth-most polluted country, down from No. 3 in 2023. Vehicular emissions contributed 51.5 per cent to Delhi’s pollution. Delhi has banned 10-year-old diesel and 15-year-old petrol cars, and on July 1, banned even the refuelling of such cars. Ms Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director of research and advocacy at the Centre for Science and Environment, said: “For India, electrification is not just an opportunity to clean up the environment, but it is also an industrial opportunity.” She noted that the government, apart from implementing manufacturing schemes needed to strengthen charging infrastructure, also needed to incentivise consumers more, citing measures like free parking for EVs. “In India, you require industry to develop its manufacturing capacity adequately. You need a supply chain of critical minerals and battery manufacturing. But the supply chain will evolve only if the (automobile) industry perceives there is a demand in the market. Both have to go hand in hand.”

Can Tesla, VinFast and other foreign EV firms thrive in the Indian market?

Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director of research and advocacy at the Centre for Science and Environment, said: “For India, electrification is not just an opportunity to clean up the environment, but it is also an industrial opportunity.” As growth in electric vehicle (EV) sales slows down in the US and Europe, competition is accelerating in India’s nascent electric car market with the entry of billionaire Elon Musk’s Tesla and Asian carmakers, such as Vietnam’s VinFast and China’s Leapmotor. India is the world’s third-largest car market in terms of domestic vehicle sales, and it is predicted to overtake the US and China to become the largest by 2030. The government hopes that electric cars will make up 30 per cent of total car sales by then, up from a mere 2.5 per cent out of the 4.3 million cars sold in 2024. But India is also a challenging market with price-conscious consumers, limited charging infrastructure, difficult road conditions and high import duties on foreign cars. Tesla drove into the Indian market in July with two variants of its Model Y, a popular electric sport utility vehicle (SUV), which come with a hefty starting price tag of around US$70,000, compared with just US$37,490 in the US, according to Forbes India. A key reason was the import duty, which can rise to 110 per cent, making the SUV more expensive in India than in many other countries. Tesla, which is currently operating in Mumbai and plans to expand to Delhi, is testing the market, said Srihari Mulgund, India new age mobility partner at EY-Parthenon India, a consulting company. “They are trying to see how the market perceives the product. There will be learning, and it will help them develop an India product strategy,” he noted. The government is working to expand infrastructure for charging EVs, which will be key to their acceptance. More than 12,000 EV charging stations were in use nationwide in 2024, and the government aims to have 3.9 million by 2030. Leading up to Tesla’s entry on July 15, Musk had criticised the high import duties, remarking that they were “the highest in the world by far, of any large country”. The US is negotiating lower automotive tariffs as part of the India-US trade deal. Tesla, which competes in the luxury EV sector, has ruled out manufacturing in India, according to Heavy Industries Minister H. D. Kumaraswamy. Operating on a different model in another part of the cost spectrum is Vietnamese EV-maker VinFast, which was named one of Time’s 100 most influential companies in 2024. It is taking orders for two premium SUVs, which will be priced in the range of 1.8 million rupees (US$20,561) to 3.5 million rupees, according to Indian media reports. VinFast opened its first showroom in the city of Surat, in the western state of Gujarat, on July 27, and its second in the city of Chennai, in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, on Aug 2. It has also tied up with local partners to create a charging network and for after-sales service, with plans to launch 35 dealerships by the year end in 27 cities. According to VinFast’s press release, its car assembly plant in Tamil Nadu is the company’s third operational facility globally. The facility, which is part of a 160 billion rupee investment pact inked between VinFast and the Tamil Nadu government in 2024, will initially make 50,000 vehicles per year. VinFast Asia chief executive Pham Sanh Chau told NDTV news channel: “This plant lays a solid foundation for us to make Tamil Nadu not just a manufacturing hub for India, but also VinFast’s largest export base for South Asia, the Middle East and Africa.” Puneet Gupta, director for India and Asean markets at S&P Global Mobility, said: “Tesla and VinFast will both serve as catalysts in driving up EV market share in India. They are expected to attract greater attention from consumers towards electric vehicles and help increase confidence in EV technology.” Chinese automobile start-up Leapmotor’s electric cars are also being launched in India, by multinational automotive manufacturing corporation Stellantis, which will assemble the vehicles. India is hoping that such assembly plants, which are at the lower end of manufacturing, will be the starting point for building a manufacturing ecosystem of EVs. While domestic EV manufacturers are keen to protect their turf, the government is encouraging foreign carmakers to come to India and make it their EV manufacturing hub in the region. In 2024, 99,165 electric cars were sold, which is a 20 per cent increase over the previous year, according to the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations. EV growth in India has been led by two- and three-wheelers that accounted for a majority of the over two million EVs sold in 2024. The growth is not coming from the entry-level segment, but SUVs – where cars start at around one million rupees – and the premium segment. Consumers with more purchasing power, who own more than one car and are aware of environmental concerns, are likely leading the trend, said analysts. When Surinder Gera decided to replace his 11-year-old diesel car with an electric SUV, he spent as much time convincing his 21-year-old son, with whom he runs the family clothing manufacturing business, as he did researching cars and the charging infrastructure. The family already owns a petrol car. “He told me it’s too much of a risk, as we travel a lot for our business. But I convinced him. I wanted to bring down my family’s carbon footprint,” said the 47-year-old businessman, who is based in the northern Indian city of Ludhiana. In addition, Gera charted every location he had visited in the last five years to see whether charging stations were present along each route. He settled on an SUV made by domestic automobile company Mahindra & Mahindra, which fell within his budget. Mahindra’s electric car line-up starts at around 1.5 million rupees. Unlike in other parts of the world, where Chinese EV companies have been rapidly increasing their market share, domestic manufacturers dominate the market in India. China’s BYD’s, the world’s biggest EV-maker, had a US$1 billion investment plan rejected in 2023 amid geopolitical tensions between India and China. So BYD scaled down its plans for India and relies on its assembly plant in the southern city of Chennai, which has an annual capacity of 10,000 to 15,000 units. BYD also imports many of the cars it sells in India. Things may improve for Chinese companies as China and India seek to repair ties following a 2020 clash on their border. Tata leads with over half of the market share in the electric car segment, followed by MG Motor, which is a joint venture between India’s JSW Group and China’s Saic Motor. They are followed by Mahindra & Mahindra and China’s BYD. Tata Motors, which once had a 70 per cent share, is finding its dominance in the Indian market challenged as more competitors come in with new car models and offer innovations like allowing buyers to lease EV batteries. In response, Tata Motors plans to have around 15 models by 2030. Mahindra & Mahindra in 2024 also announced plans to introduce seven new EVs by 2030. Newcomers face a squeeze between the competition and aspirational buyers who want multiple features at a low price, said EY’s Mulgund. “India is a very heterogeneous market. There is the rural and urban divide. Building up a dealership and service is no mean feat, and finding the right partners takes time. It can be built, but it’s a longer gestation period,” he said. “The (EV) market is not massive. Price becomes a critical part of any proposition. Indian customers are also ambitious. They want a car at the right price point but want all the bells and whistles. That is a difficult proposition to beat. You need a certain level of scale to deliver that.” In order to push foreign carmakers to manufacture in India, the government in 2025 launched the Scheme to Promote Manufacturing of Electric Passenger Cars in India. Under the scheme, Customs duty is cut to 15 per cent, provided that automakers invest a minimum of 41.5 billion rupees within three years. They can then import 8,000 electric cars with a cost, insurance and freight value of US$35,000 subject to the 15 per cent tax per car. So far, Tesla has not shown interest, while other car manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz, Skoda-Volkswagen, Hyundai and Kia have indicated interest, according to Kumaraswamy, the minister. Volvo Car India’s managing director Jyoti Malhotra told news agency Press Trust of India that, given the level of investment required, the company would do best to continue to assemble its cars in India, as it is doing, for now. "As more benefits are seen, and we anticipate bigger scale, then we can evaluate others," he said. For India, going electric is an environmental imperative, given how pollution levels are climbing in its urban centres. According to the World Air Quality Report 2024 by Swiss air-quality technology company IQAir, Delhi is the most polluted capital city in the world and India is the world’s fifth-most polluted country, down from No. 3 in 2023. Vehicular emissions contributed 51.5 per cent to Delhi’s pollution. Delhi has banned 10-year-old diesel and 15-year-old petrol cars, and on July 1, banned even the refuelling of such cars. Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director of research and advocacy at the Centre for Science and Environment, said: “For India, electrification is not just an opportunity to clean up the environment, but it is also an industrial opportunity.” She noted that the government, apart from implementing manufacturing schemes needed to strengthen charging infrastructure, also needed to incentivise consumers more, citing measures like free parking for EVs. “In India, you require industry to develop its manufacturing capacity adequately. You need a supply chain of critical minerals and battery manufacturing. But the supply chain will evolve only if the (automobile) industry perceives there is a demand in the market. Both have to go hand in hand.” - The Straits Times/ANN

Extreme Weather In Uttarakhand: Worst Monsoon In Four Years Brings Deadly Floods And Landslides

Uttarakhand is experiencing its most severe monsoon in four years, with extreme weather in Uttarakhand recorded on 65% of days from June 1 to August 5, 2025. Due to climate change, unregulated growth of infrastructure, and poor early warning systems, the acute flash floods and landslides of the season have caused disastrous loss of life. So far, at least 53 people have died, and over 60 people are missing in Dharali village, Uttarkashi. Researchers warn that the worst may not be behind us, and that we must understand why this has occurred, the damage it will do, and how we can prevent it. How Does This Year’s Monsoon Compare to Previous Years? The intensity of the 2025 monsoon is unmatched in recent years. Data from Down To Earth (DTE) and the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) shows a consistent increase in extreme weather days:

Wage is not just a number

Bengaluru’s waste pickers are at the lowest income slab compared with other major cities in the country, a report from the Center for Science and Environment (CSE), a Delhi-based NGO, has highlighted. While in cities such as Chandigarh, Pune, and Pimpri-Chinchwad, the minimum ensured wage of waste workers ranges from Rs 16,000 to Rs 20,000, in Bengaluru, their income is Rs 10,000. The report underlines that Bengaluru’s waste pickers are not assured minimum wages or the right to collect user fees. Their income depends entirely on the volume of recyclables collected and sold, making many dry waste collection centres economically unviable. This, even though informal waste sorting in the city prevents 1,050 tonnes of waste daily from reaching landfills, saving over a million per year in disposal costs. Waste management experts caution that in such a scenario, the city is likely to suffer. “It is high time Bengaluru’s waste pickers are also entitled to a minimum assured wage. This will help the city with the management of solid waste,” said a city-based solid-waste management expert. The expert also pointed to how difficult it is for waste workers to manage. “The value of plastic waste has gone down, and waste pickers are finding it difficult to survive. The local administration first needs to renew the MoU with informal waste pickers and provide valid IDs to the workers. This is one way the administration can help them clear the waste,” the expert said. In Bengaluru, Hasiru Dala’s advocacy has enabled waste pickers to secure land from the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and establish a material recovery facility along with dry waste collection centres. These centres allow them to sort, store, and sell recyclables. by the waste pickers through loans or financing. BBMP provided Rs 56,000 for vehicle operations for the first six months, later reduced to Rs 23,000 per month. Waste pickers collect dry waste two–three times a week, store and manually sort it at DWCCs with 10–12 workers they hire, and then sell recyclables in the market. Organic waste is separately collected by BBMP vehicles on alternate days and processed. The local administration first needs to renew the MoU with informal waste pickers and provide valid IDs to the workers. This is one way the administration can help them clear the waste — Waste management expert Waste workers in the city were linked to social security schemes such as pensions, health insurance, and medical benefits, and supported the overall well-being of their families through Hasiru Dala. Waste pickers were connected to public housing programmes, and their children were helped to get educational scholarships, access to a community library, and hostel facilities for those lacking a supportive home environment. Regular medical check-up camps were organised in both communities and DWCCs, with provisions for emergency healthcare, and their children were enrolled in nutritional support programmes.

How Dubious Data, Fading Tech Shape India's Global Plastic Stance

Between April 2022 and August 2024, India produced 47.76 million tonnes (MT) of plastic, but only had the capacity to recycle 19.64 MT. According to the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), rigid plastics had a 93% recycling capacity, while flexible packaging and MLPs languished at 24%. This implies that 58% of produced plastic was potentially being recycled, as per the Centre for Science and Environment’s EPR Portal Insights report that analysed data from this period. “The system was created to target MLPs. But it clearly failed to do so,” said Siddharth Ghanshyam Singh, programme manager at CSE who authored the report.

Road to Geneva | Plastic Pollution INC-5.2

Positions Courage, not compromise – Pacific SIDS call for ambition ahead of final plastics treaty talks in Geneva | SPREP | 2 August 2025 Including Climate Impacts of Plastics | The Plastics & Climate Project, Environmental Law Institute, University of Wollongong Australia | August 2025 UN Plastics Treaty: What to Watch for at INC-5.2 | Global Plastic Laws | 31 July 2025 What to expect as Talks on Plastic Pollution Near the Finish Line at INC-5.2 | Tallash Kantai | IISD | 30 July 2025 Initial Considerations for INC 5.2. Delivering a treaty that ends plastic pollution – the final negotiating stretch | EIA | 29 July 2025 Global Plastic Treaty Negotiations. Country Positions | Centre for Science and Environment India | 29 July 2025 Scientists issue urgent call ahead of final plastics treaty talks: This is the world’s last chance to act | University of Portsmouth | 28 July 2025 Smoke Signals from the Plastics Treaty: Why Geneva Negotiations Can’t Ignore Health Governance | Health Policy Watch | 27 July 2025 The UN Plastics Treaty – Youth Demand for a Strong Global Plastics Treaty | End Plastic Pollution Uganda | 25 July 2025 A global treaty to limit plastic pollution is within reach – will countries seize the moment? | The Conversation |22 July 2025 AMCEN-20: African environment ministers pledge to back a robust global plastics treaty | Down to Earth | 21 July 2025 Plastics, Profits and Power: How petrochemical companies are derailing the Global Plastics Treaty | Greenpeace UK | July 2025

Industrial accidents, the human cost of indifference

After spending 37 years in India’s oil and energy sector, this writer has walked through the innards of factories, refineries, and chemical plants across the country. This writer has seen, up close, the tragic aftermath of industrial accidents — not as distant events, but as raw human tragedies. These are not acts of fate. They are the result of choices — bad ones made by individuals, institutions, and systems that fail to care. We have seen it again, recently — as explosions at Sigachi Industries in Telangana, and as a firecracker unit disaster in Tamil Nadu. They are not aberrations. They are the symptoms of a deeper, ongoing national crisis. A universe is shattered every time In the last five years, at least 6,500 workers have lost their lives in India’s factories, construction sites, and mines, according to government data compiled by the Labour Ministry and several Right to Information-based reports. This means nearly three fatalities every day in peacetime, in a growing economy, in the 21st century. Editorial | Death at work: On industrial safety In Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu alone, over 200 fatalities have occurred in major industrial mishaps over the past decade. But the true toll — especially from the unregistered or informal sector units may be much higher and rarely makes news. Each of these cases is not just a data point. It is about a breadwinner gone, a child orphaned, and a household thrust into trauma and penury. This writer has witnessed this — an empty seat in a refinery canteen after a fatality, families pacing outside the plant gates, waiting for news they know will break them. A study in 2022 by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) found that India had had over 130 major chemical accidents in just a 30-month window post-2020, with 218 fatalities and 300-plus injuries. Most of these occurred in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which often operate under regulatory radar.

उत्तराखंड में चार साल में आया सबसे खराब मॉनसून, 15 दिन में आईं 48 से ज्यादा आपदाएं

उत्तराखंड इस साल चार साल के सबसे खराब मॉनसून का सामना कर रहा है. 1 जून से 5 अगस्त 2025 तक के 66 दिनों में से 43 दिन एक्सट्रीम वेदर (जैसे भारी बारिश, बाढ़ और भूस्खलन) के रहे, जो पिछले चार सालों में सबसे ज्यादा है. यह आंकड़ा डाउन टू अर्थ (DTE) और दिल्ली के सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरनमेंट (CSE) के विश्लेषण पर आधारित है. एक्सट्रीम वेदर का बढ़ता खतरा इस साल मानसून के अब तक के दिनों में 65% समय एक्सट्रीम वेदर देखा गया, जो 2022 में 33% था. 2023 में यह 47% और 2024 में 59% था. यह साफ दिखता है कि हर साल स्थिति और खराब हो रही है. मॉनसून 1 जून से 30 सितंबर तक 122 दिन का होता है. 5 अगस्त तक आधा समय बीत चुका है. फिर भी 43 दिन एक्सट्रीम वेदर के रहे, जो 2022 के पूरे सीजन (44 दिन) के बराबर है. अगर यही ट्रेंड रहा, तो अगले 56 दिनों में और 40-43 दिन अति-मौसम हो सकते हैं, यानी कुल 83-86 दिन पिछले चार साल का रिकॉर्ड तोड़ देंगे. 15 में आईं 48 आपदाएं इस खराब मौसम ने भारी नुकसान पहुंचाया है. 1 जून से 5 अगस्त 2025 के बीच कम से कम 48 लोग मौसम से जुड़ी आपदाओं में मारे गए. यह 2022 के पूरे सीजन (56 मौतें) के 86% और 2023 के 104 मौतों का करीब 46% है. खतरा अभी खत्म नहीं हुआ. 5 अगस्त को उत्तरकाशी जिले के धराली गांव में बाढ़ आई, जिसमें 4 लोगों की मौत हुई और 100 से ज्यादा लोग लापता हैं.

बाढ़, भूस्खलन, 48 मौतें... उत्तराखंड में चार साल का सबसे खराब मॉनसून, 66 दिन में 43 दिन रहे आफत के

उत्तरा खंड चा र सा ल के सबसे खरा ब मॉ नसून से जूझ रहा है, जि समें 65% दि न एक्सट्री म वेदर के रहे. 48 लो ग मरे, 250 से ज्या दा ला पता हैं. जलवा यु परि वर्तन और खरा ब तैया री इसके पी छे हैं. धरा ली में भा रती य सेनासे ना रेस्क्यू में जुटी है, लेकि न बेहतर यो जना जरूरी है