The above titled monograph contains rich menu of analytical studies in environmental economics for which Chief Editor is professor Jyoti Parikh assisted by Tata Raghuram. The case studies were funded by the research programme executed by the Environmental Economics Research Committee (EERC). It was carried out at the behest of Ministry of Environmental and Forests, India, supported by World Bank at Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGDIR), Mumbai. Professor  Jyoti K. Parikh chaired the committiee who is presently at Integrated Research and Action for Development (IRADe), New Delhi, India.

The monograph fulfills the long existing vacuum of case studies in Environmental economics India. They give insight into grass root level situations whether it is green issues of wetlands, mangroves, and watersheds or brown issues such as urban air pollution and water pollution. Other issues such as marine fisheries, watershed management and biodiversity economics, national policy problems such as river pollution, natural resource accounting and impact of subsidies on environment and issues of global negotiations o trade environment and climate change are also addressed.  Together these studies provide not only micro level understanding but also national and global perspectives. The projects tried to come up with policy suggestions for sustainable natural resource management. The field level case studies have added a substantial body of information and understanding to the natural resource management policy in the country.

The programme in environmental economics research in India culminated in 54 project reports, a summary volume and a CD. Investigators from over 30 universities, 23 research institutions and NGOs participated in this program. Purpose of the program was to enhance the capacity for the application of economic principles and tools to environmental management in India across the full range of approaches. The projects address the issues at multiple levels viz. designing methodologies for evaluation of environment, application of advanced research tools like GIS and remote sensing for water resource management and policy making, economic assessment of environmental impacts and services, cost benefit analysis, green accounting procedures and market based instruments for regional environmental management.