Even as big conglomerates like the Tata Group gear up to launch cars priced as low as Rs 1,00,000, UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Chairman & Nobel Peace Prize winner R K Pachauri, said these will be a major threat to environment.

“In India roads are not well planned and not made in a proper way. They do not support public transport that much and we are increasingly becoming dependant on cars,” Mr Pachauri said at a felicitation event organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Saturday.

“With the coming in of Rs 1 lakh (Rs 1,00,000) car, I am having nightmares, I don’t know what will happen then,” the IPCC chief told a gathering of industry leaders.

Tips on taxation

Mr Pachauri said Teri had sent suggestions to the Finance Ministry on how to reduce the number of cars plying in the city, which are main contributors to pollution and chaos on the roads. These include tips on taxation and finance of cars. Urging Indian industry to come forward in a big way and start being pro-active in saving the world against the dangers of global warming, Mr Pachauri said: “Future of human race is going to be a low carbon future and the Indian industry has to take the lead and be part of the solution.”

Mr Pachauri asked it to strategise its business plans in such as way that it gradually moves towards a low carbon economy. Stating that the impact of climate change on agriculture will be humongous which would all be accentuated due to scarcity of water, Mr Pachauri exhorted the industry to look at water management seriously.

“Financial planning also has a major role to play in this. How we subsidise water, power and all will have an affect on the environment. We will have to start exploring immediately as to how we develop and adopt new technology,” he observed.

He suggested new kind of corporate gifts for the festive season such as solar torches and solar lanterns to help save electricity.