Need to strike balance between growth, environment: Jairam

There was need to strike a balance between growth and environmental protection in the country as a lot of people depend on natural resources for their livelihood, former union minister Jairam Ramesh said here on Sunday. Speaking at an event organized by the Indian School of Business (ISB), the Congress Rajya Sabha MP, who was the environment minister during the UPA regime, said the states offering free power as part of the welfare scheme need to have a rational approach on the pricing of electricity which needs more water to produce.

It would be intellectually dishonest to say that somehow we can marry the environment and development. But in practice, there will be cases where environmental objectives and growth objectives are in conflict with each other. "In such situations, through a democratic process, I stress the word, through the democratic process, you have to resolve these conflicts, he said referring to the opposition to proposed uranium mining in Telangana.

Ramesh said India now stands at "historic turning point" where it can show to the world that grows now and pay later model was no longer relevant in the present context as the country needs to protect the environment as part of the economic growth. Environment doesn't mean slow economic growth. In the long run, to be equitable, rapid growth has to be sustainable, he added.