NEW DELHI February 28, 2002: The Centre for Science and Environment strongly condemns the finance minister, Yashwant Sinha, for playing a rude joke on the environment in the Union Budget, 2002 - by increasing the price of CNG and making diesel cheaper. Diesel, whose toxic fumes are known to cause to cancer, is cheaper by 50 paise. This move will only lead to more dieselisation of the auto fleet and claim millions of lives.
   
The finance minister has once again failed to use fiscal instruments to protect public health. Instead of promoting the use of clean fuels, he has increased the tax on a cleaner fuel like compressed natural gas (CNG). CNG is now expected to be dearer by about 90 paise. This hike can seriously jeopardise the progress made to make Delhi's air cleaner. It will also impede the initiatives taken by other cities of the country to switch to the cleaner fuel. Sinha's mindless policy goes against the international trend of giving incentives to cleaner fuels and making dirty fuels expensive.

ironically, the minister has also proposed to set up a new insurance scheme to protect the health of rural populations. But the impact of favouring a dirty fuel like diesel will claim more lives than he is supposedly trying to save through his insurance policy.