Hyderabad: Twelve Indian companies are among 100 assessed across the globe for high increase in carbon dioxide emission.
Vedanta Limited – India tops the list with 51.8 million tonnes of increased C02 emitted over a period of five years, followed by Adani Power Limited, which stands third in the list and Reliance power at sixth position.
The government-run National Thermal Power station (NTPC) is for the second consecutive year among the highest C02 emitters. Experts say that these companies, individually, increased their C02 emission equivalent to the size of Sweden’s total territorial emission of 53 million tonnes.
In 2017, Coal India topped the list of 100 businesses with the highest CO2 emission. However, it has seen a reduction in emissions in 2018. It has been ranked 88th in the latest score board. Other Indian companies responsible for high emission in 2017 were NTPC Ltd, Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Reliance Industries. In a year’s time, the number zoomed up to 12. It is to be noted that the companies were assessed based on emission over the last five years.
While China-based company LafargeHolcim Limited is the second, Australia-based AGL Energy Limited is the fourth and Korean Electric Power Corporation among the top 5. China, Saudi Arabia and USA collectively have a massive number of companies in the top 100.
Mr Anirudh Swang, an expert on pollution, said: “Numbers show that carbon dioxide emission grew by 4.6 per cent in 2017. But one should understand that if emission is measured by a person, the country’s overall emission is still low, compared to other nations.”
According to the 2018 Global Carbon Project report, India’s CO2 emissions is projected to rise by 6.3 per cent in 2018-19 due to strong economic growth. “The Indian government will need to step up its climate policy if it is to slow down growth in emissions while maintaining economic growth”, it said.
The report attributes the increase in India’s emissions to two broad factors.
The first is economic growth, the second is that despite aggressive installation of renewables, coal consumption continues to increase as mining outputs grow to supply power stations that have been operating well short of capacity.
