Whether the emission comes from the US, Europe or elsewhere should not be the debate, but it affects globally,' the minister said.

Ritika Modi, South Asia regional president of Uniglobe, said the cost of offsetting the emission of a Delhi-London flight is Rs.800 per person, while it is Rs.1,350 for a Delhi-New York flight and Rs.1,450 for a Mumbai-New York flight.

For a Delhi-Mumbai flight, the cost per person would be Rs.100, for Delhi-Chennai Rs.200 and Bangalore-Chennai Rs.50.

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy, who was also present on the occasion, said the programme would not help as people would not be ready to make voluntary contributions.

'Let the developed countries make it mandatory for their travellers to pay for carbon emissions. Developing countries' contribution is negligible. I am apprehensive about the response of the Indian travellers,' Rudy told IANS.