Gandhinagar, Dec 11 (IANS) Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi Friday asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to seek the states’ views before announcing any unilateral commitment on a cut in carbon emissions at the Copenhagen climate summit.
In a letter to the prime minister, released to the media here, Modi said union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh’s announcement of India accepting up to 25 per cent cut in carbon emission intensity by 2020 is bound to adversely affect the energy, agriculture, urban development and industrial sectors and hit the long-term development prospects of the states.

Espousing the need for India to develop a comprehensive policy to reduce carbon emission levels for protecting the environment, he said this, however, cannot be done without taking the states into confidence. “The states would face the direct impact and this is bound to affect the overall development of the country,” he added.

Noting that Gujarat was the first state to set up a separate department on climate change, Modi wrote that the state was deeply concerned about the fall-out of climate change, but the issue required discussions with all concerned rather than taking unilateral decisions.