Blueair lauds Union Budget's initiatives to control air pollution

Bengt Rittri, Founder, and CEO of Blueair appreciated the Union Budget for the initiatives taken by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to control the air pollution levels in the country.

“We welcome the initiatives taken by The Finance Minister Mr. ArunJaitley in this budget to control the air pollution levels in the country. However, home and business owners, as well as the air purifier industry, need to be incentivised to get air pollution protection devices such as air purifiers in every Indian home. To start with, reducing import duties on air purifiers can be a step that can be taken by the government,” said Rittri.

Jaitley announced that the government will provide LPG connection in the name of women in rural households and Rs. 2,000 crore will be allotted for this. This will bring down indoor air pollution caused by the chulhas (stoves) burning wood, coal and animal dung as fuel which is a major factor in the occurrence of a slew of diseases, including respiratory diseases among women.

In a move aimed at checking the rising air pollution levels in the country, Jaitley has levied additional taxes on Diesel and SUVs to pull down the demand. He announces 1% Clean Energy Cess on LPG cars, 2.5% on diesel, 5% on SUVs as part of green measures and to encourage the use of Hybrid cars.

There is an announcement of clean energy cess in this budget to reduce the negative environmental consequences and increased pollution levels associated with industrialization and urbanization. It increased from Rs 200/ton to 400/ton on coal, lignite and peat.

Jaitley on Monday presented the Union Budget 2016 focusing on rural development and farm and social sector along with infrastructure with analysts terming it a pro-poor, pro-agriculture move that throws a challenge to the government to implement in reality.

A major focus of the budget is on agriculture and farmers welfare, with a massive mission to provide LPG connection to poor households, a new health protection scheme, increased the outlay for infrastructure, Rs. 2.87 Lakh crore Grant in Aid to Gram Panchayats and Municipalities and setting up of 1500 Multi Skill Training Institutes and incentives for jobs creation.