‘Air pollution, lack of skills in green tech possible obstacles in investing’: Christine Toetzke

Toetzke said that representatives of German companies and associations she spoke to, listed “political stability, potentially large market and good business climate” as the enabling factors for investing in India. “The issue of air pollution for some of them could be an obstacle to investing in India”, Toetzke said, adding “lack of skilled experts in green technology” was another area of concern.

“These are the things that should be addressed”, she said, suggesting that Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) could offer financing advisories and targetted vocational training as well. Toetzke is also DG for South Eastern and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Latin America and was speaking at the plenary on ‘Scaling up India’s Green Investments and Financing: Role of MDBs’.

Chief Commissioner of State Tax, Rajeev Topno raised concerns about “taxonomy” and the definition of “what qualifies as green”, and the “fluctuating exchange rate” as concerns for the purpose of financing by the Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs).

Topno, an IAS officer from the Gujarat cadre has done a stint in the World Bank and in the Prime Minister’s Office( PMO) during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tenure.

Other speakers at this session were Baldeo Purushartha, Joint Secretary, ISD Division, Department of Economic Affairs, Zia Nariman, Senior Investment Officer, Climate Business Lead for Asia Infrastructure, International Finance Corporation (IFC), Eiji Wakamatsu, Senior Representative, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Moez Cherif, Lead Energy Specialist, World Bank.