The Indian government, which expected to raise 25 billion rupees ($555 million) in its first year from a carbon tax on coal, failed to disclose how it will spend the money, a solar industry group said.
The proceeds from the coal tax, which took effect last July, were meant to fund renewable energy technologies, Anil Lakhina, managing director of the Gurgaon-based Forum for Advancement of Solar Thermal, said today in an e-mail. The government has yet to consult companies on how the fund will be used or its terms, he said.
“The fund needs to be activated at the earliest with express earmarking of certain portion for meeting the debt funding requirements of solar projects,” Lakhina said.
The tax was India’s first step to charge companies for fossil fuel pollution. Imported and domestically mined coal, which fires more than half of the nation’s electricity generation, is taxed at 50 rupees a metric ton. Coal producers are required to pay the tax on a monthly basis, according to Coal India Ltd. (COAL), the nation’s largest producer.
The government hasn’t specified how much it has raised or how the funds will be used since announcing the tax in February 2010. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee proposed this week to use part 2 billion rupees from the collections to clean up polluted lakes and rivers but didn’t elaborate.
