The Indian railways have managed to almost maintain their greenhouse gas emissions between 1994 and 2007, environment minister Jairam Ramesh said at a national workshop on Greenhouse Gas Emissions 2007. “The contribution of civil aviation to GHG has almost doubled,” Ramesh said after Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission released a report on "India: Greenhouse Gas Emission 2007".

At the workshop organised by the Indian Network for Climate Change Assessment (INCCA) in New Delhi today, Ramesh said that the maximum emissions were by the electricity generation sector. “They account for 38 percent of GHG emissions,” he added.

The minister also said that the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch dedicated satellites for monitoring green house gases and forest cover by 2012 and 2013 respectively.

"Efforts are on to launch an indigenous satellite for measuring greenhouse gases and aerosol emissions by 2012," Ramesh said. He said that the forestry satellite will monitor afforestation and deforestation on a regular real-time basis.

Ramesh also urged Indian scientists to publish their researches in peer reviewed journals. “We should launch a top class world publication,” he added. Ramesh said that top scientists from the world could be roped in to be the advisers on the editorial board.

“We also need to upgrade the quality of existing literature and publications like the Indian forester,” Ramesh added.