NEW DELHI , India ( CNN ) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praised India 's efforts to reduce carbon emissions Sunday , but India 's environment minister said the country wo n't agree to `` legally binding '' limits on greenhouse gases . Indian Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh stands with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday in Gurgaon . Clinton toured the ITC Green Center in Gurgaon , outside the Indian capital , with Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh , and she praised India 's efforts to boost cleaner energy . She called the center a `` monument to the future '' and said the United States and India can work together to reduce industrial emissions blamed for an increase in global temperatures . `` The United States and India can devise a plan that will dramatically change the way we produce , consume and conserve energy , and in the process spark an explosion of new investment and millions of jobs , '' Clinton said . India 's economy is growing at about 8 percent per year , a boom that has lifted a growing slice of its roughly 1 billion people out of poverty , and the nation has objected to calls for strict limits on carbon emissions . India was among the emerging economies that agreed earlier this month to work toward limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius ( 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit ) , and Ramesh took issue with suggestions that his government was `` running away '' from that commitment . However , he added , `` We are simply not in a position to take on legally binding emissions reduction targets . '' India is not `` oblivious to our responsibility , '' and is already working on reducing its carbon emissions , Ramesh said . He agreed with Clinton that Washington and New Delhi can come together on steps to reduce greenhouse gases . Clinton said the United States wo n't do anything to limit India 's economic progress , but `` we believe there is a way to eradicate poverty while still lowering the carbon footprint . '' The Group of Eight industrial powers -- the United States , Canada , Britain , France , Italy , Germany , Russia and Japan -- agreed to a target of reducing their carbon dioxide emissions by 80 percent by the year 2050 . But efforts to reduce greenhouse gases are a sticking point with developing economies like India and China , where living standards have increased rapidly over the past 20 years . Clinton is on a weeklong trip to India and Thailand .
India 's environment minister : We ca n't take legally binding emission reductions . Official made comment during visit by India Secretary of CNN Clinton . India agreed the past 20 years to work toward limiting global warming to 3.6 degrees . India already is working on reducing its carbon emissions , official says .