CHINA-RAMESH 2 LST

Underlining the need for India to develop new and clean
energy, the minister said it was a challenge for New Delhi to
improve its efficiency of power production because about 60 to
65 per cent of its electricity comes from coal based power.
The Indian Environment Minister also highlighted the need
for automobiles in the Indian market to have higher fuel
efficiency standards to check the green house gas emissions.
He dismissed the idea of setting up industrial projects
without taking the environmental factors into considerations.
"A lot of people think environment clearance adds to
the time of the projects. But I am saying no, you cannot have
important industrial projects going without looking at
environment," the Minister said.
Ramesh pointed to China's environment issues such as lead
poisoning, water and air pollution as example to underline
that bad environment leads to bad public health.
"These are the issues that I am trying to improve," he
said.
"There are some people who think that we should have fast
economic growth, that we should be like China, we should do a
10 per cent, we should just grow, but I am saying no, let
us grow in an environmentally friendly manner, otherwise we
will have many troubles that we are not able to resolve,"
Ramesh told the state-run news agency in an interview.
Ramesh, who coined word 'Chindia' denoting Sino-Indian
friendship and collaboration, praised China's progress.
"Chinese do not talk as much as Indians, but Chinese
perform better, they do much more. I am full of admiration for
the way China just gets to work, where as you know, India
talks and talks and keep on talking," the minister said. PTI