[sustran] Re: Indian official calls German cars 'criminal'

[Bina C.Balakrishnan]

Thats not good reporting.

What the Minister said is "Use of these cars is criminal", not that German
cars are criminal. That is a huge difference.

I read the original article when it came out inthe Indian newspapers.
I am one hundred percent with Mr. Jairam Ramesh about the use of SUVs on
Indian streets - or urban streets, for that matter. These are very large
vehicles, and their presence in the traffic stream does cause interference.
Besides these large vehicles are not required for purposes of urban
movement. And they DO consume a lot of gas.

Bina C. Balakrishnan
Consultant -
Sustainable Transportation Policy, Planning & Management
Mumbai, India

Cell:    +91 98339 00108

Home: +91 22 23630572
Fax:    +91 22 23692673
e-mail: binacb at gmail.com
           binac at rediffmail.com
web : www.binabalakrishnan.com
skype: binacb
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On Sun, Nov 14, 2010 at 12:12 AM, Todd Edelman <edelman at greenidea.eu> wrote:

> Indian official calls German cars 'criminal'
> http://www.thelocal.de/national/20101112-31139.html
>
> India’s Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh attacked German automakers on
> Friday, saying driving big-engined luxury models from BMW and
> Mercedes-Benz in his country was “criminal.”
>
> Expressing his wish for better fuel efficiency in India, Ramesh said
> people should not be encouraged to buy vehicles such as powerful German
> luxury cars and gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles.
>
> “The luxurious growth of large-size vehicles like SUVs is really a
> growth of concern, use of vehicles like SUVs and BMW in countries like
> India is criminal,” he said at a UN function in New Delhi, according to
> news agency IANS.
>
> "I think we seriously need to think about fuel policy regime," he added,
> suggesting that these luxury models were still made because they run on
> subsidised diesel fuel, making the real beneficiaries the owners of
> "BMWs, the Benzs and Hondas," IANS reported.
>
> The country should levy extra fees and mandatory fuel efficiency
> standards on these cars, the minister suggested.
>
> "We cannot ask people to buy or not to buy a particular car. But through
> an effective fiscal policy, we can certainly have an impact," he said.
>
> A new committee on national transport plans to give recommendations for
> such a program in just over a year, he added.
>
> India’s auto market is among the fastest growing in the world,
> particularly in the luxury sector, with German carmakers expanding their
> operations there significantly in recent years
>
> ***
>
> See also
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/edelman/2163265797/in/set-72157602171242536/
>
> --
>
> Todd Edelman
> Green Idea Factory,
> a member of the OPENbike team
>
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>
> edelman at greenidea.eu
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>
> ***
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