India’s emissions up 58 per cent since 1994; but figures per GDP unit down

India's annual greenhouse gas emissions increased by 58 per cent from 1994-2007, driven by higher industrial activity, energy production and transport, according to revised estimates issued by the government after a gap of 13 years.

"Between 1994 and 2007, some of the sectors indicate significant growth in greenhouse gas emissions, such as cement production, electricity generation and transport," said a report released by environment minister Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday.

Total annual greenhouse gas emissions grew from 1.25 billion tonnes in 1994 to 1.90 billion tonnes in 2007. But despite the increase, "the emissions of the United States and China are almost four times that of India in 2007", Ramesh told reporters in New Delhi.

At the same time, India's greenhouse gas emissions per unit of GDP declined by more than 30 per cent during 1994-2007, according to the data. Ramesh said this underlined the country's commitment to fight climate change.

"This is due to efforts and policies that we are proactively putting in place. This is the trend we plan to continue," he said after deputy chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahulwalia released the report on India's greenhouse gas emissions (GHG).

China and the United States are the world's top emitters of greenhouse gases and disagreement between the two on slashing their carbon dioxide output was a major cause of the failure of UN-sponsored climate change talks in Copenhagen last year.