Indian business demands more tax breaks for green investment

BANGALORE: Eighty five per cent of Indian companies are of the view that government tax breaks are required to accelerate green investments, a survey revealed.

Thirty per cent of companies in India monitor their carbon footprint compared to the global average of 19 per cent.

Eighty five per cent of companies in India said if government offered tax incentives to invest in energy efficient or low-carbon equipment, businesses would significantly accelerate their green investments, a global survey by workspace solutions provider, Regus, revealed.

The study revealed that only 51 per cent of companies monitor their energy efficiency.

Another 50 per cent of companies had a policy to invest in energy efficient equipment. Running costs were found to be important to the majority (57 per cent) of companies that declared that they would only invest in low carbon equipment if it were cheaper or the same to run as conventional equipment.

Small companies throughout were found to be below average on their actual and predicted level of green investment, indicating that smaller businesses are harder pressed to select low-carbon equipment when this comes at marginally higher price, as short-term needs are more urgent than long-term investment.

Only 25 per cent of small businesses monitor their carbon footprint compared to compared to 45 per cent of large businesses. Similarly only 44 per cent of small businesses had invested in green equipment compared to 57 per cent of large businesses.

The survey also analysed sector differences. Forty three per cent of companies in the ICT sector measure their carbon foot print, 53 per cent of companies in the Sector had invested in green technology and 57 per cent had a policy to do so. By contrast only 25 per cent of companies in the consultancy sector monitor their carbon foot print, but 71 per cent declared that the majority of their equipment was energy efficient.