The minister, who had recently spoken out against diesel-powered SUVs, describing their usage in a country like India as 'criminal' (See: Use of SUVs in India 'criminal': Jairam Ramesh), said that he was not for government intervention in people's right to buy a vehicle of their choice.
He wondered whether the government's objective in subsidising diesel for the poor was served when the fuel was used to run SUVs.
''The larger point I was trying to make was that the government subsidises diesel for social purpose and do diesel vehicles fulfil a social purpose? You can buy what you want, we cannot determine what vehicles you buy. But we can certainly have a fiscal policy which discourages the use of heavy vehicles and SUVs,'' Ramesh told a gathering at the Centre for Environment and Science in Delhi. Read the full report here.
Source: Domain-b.
