RAS question
India's Green Credit Programme (GCP) launched in 2023 aims to:
Correct answer: (B) Incentivize voluntary environmental actions by individuals, industries, and local bodies through tradable green credits.
India's Green Credit Programme aims to incentivise voluntary environmental actions by individuals, industries, communities and local bodies through tradable green credits.
Explanation
The Green Credit Programme is not a narrow energy, banking or tax measure; it is a market-based environmental incentive system notified in October 2023 under the Environment Protection Act, 1986. The PIB release says it is designed to incentivise voluntary environmental actions across diverse sectors by stakeholders such as individuals, communities, private-sector industries and companies. GCP covers eight activity areas: tree plantation, water management, sustainable agriculture, waste management, air pollution reduction, mangrove conservation, the Ecomark label and sustainable building. The key design point is tradability: once an activity is verified, a Green Credit certificate can be issued and traded on the green credit platform. That is why option B captures both the voluntary-action logic and the credit-market mechanism.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) GCP is not only about solar energy; it covers multiple environmental sectors, and the PIB release describes it as covering diverse sectors.
- (C) GCP is not a banking scheme for green-interest loans; its mechanism is the verification, issuance and trading of Green Credit certificates.
- (D) GCP does not tax green products; it rewards eligible voluntary environmental actions through tradable credits.
Concept
This tests environment-policy instruments under Science and Technology, especially market-based mechanisms linked to LiFE and sustainability. RAS repeatedly asks such schemes because the exam expects candidates to distinguish incentives, regulations, taxation and credit-market tools.