Practice & Policy

In India, the newly introduced Goods and Services Tax (GST) has led to quite some stress to the manufacturers and service providers and more importantly to the consumers belonging to middle income and poor class of the society. Most are not happy with GST today. The basic idea to introduce GST was to remove the multiple tax system that was a part of Central and…

“The 2018 budget of Government of India has been silent on environment and climate change” I gave my initial reaction to my Professor friend. We were sitting in his study having a masala chai and samosas for a change. Professor heard me but didn’t react immediately as he was on the phone – (perhaps with the FM?). I knew that Professor was close to the…

It was a Sunday morning.  We were sitting in my Professor friends study. I was enjoying my coffee. Professor lit his cigar and said “Dr Modak, I feel that today benefits of waste recycling are simply overrated. We should stop much of the kind of recycling we do and I mean it” I was shocked to hear Professor’s views. I did not understand why he…

My Professor Friend and I went to meet the Chairman of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in India. The Chairman was busy conducting a meeting with the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), Professors from reputed Academic institutions such as IIT Delhi, Environmental NGOs like the Centre for Science and Environment, Medical Professionals etc. Although we had barged in without prior appointment, Chairman welcomed us and…

Why this post? The subject of waste management is rapidly evolving. National policies and regulations are getting redrafted, strengthened and expanded. Indeed, implementation continues to be the challenge but the interest from the community, entrepreneurs and investors is growing. The term waste is now closely linked to resources and innovation is now recognized as a product of this “union”. Achieving circularity in the material and…

I have written in my space of three decades of career a few books and publications. But I was always craving to craft a book on the subject of Environmental Management & Sustainability. I wanted to structure a book that could meet the needs of academia, professionals in practice and communities. I also wanted to position the efforts taken by the businesses, financing institutions, policy…

Sustainability today is no more a concept. It is a framework that provides direction to the Governance and influences the business strategy. The need for sustainable development is no longer debated, what is argued, however, is how this should be achieved. In India, we do see an awakening and evidence of the paradigm shift towards sustainability. It is important however that we understand this progression,…

Sustainability of this planet depends heavily on the availability of resources. Resources are under threat today due to severe depletion and degradation. Depletion has been on a steep rise due to increasing population, urbanization and consumption. Degradation has been a result of reckless disposal of residues. Strangely and oddly enough, the national governments, particularly the Ministries of Environment, have focused more on the management of…

(click on the Figure to enlarge) Industrial production is important to meet our needs and generate employment. To ensure that the industrial production is economically feasible, the industry must operate above a Minimum Efficient Scale (MES). MES can be computed by equating average cost  with marginal cost . The rationale behind this is that if an industry were to produce a small number of units, its average cost…

For several, especially the polluters, Pollution Control Board (PCB) is an important institution. PCBs grant or renew consents to pollute, demand and accept payments for the Cess and carry out monitoring to check the compliance. No wonder, the atmosphere at a PCB is sometimes like a Police Station. You are not sure about the justice! The Member Secretary (MS) is the Chief Administrator of PCB…