Air Quality in India

Balancing Economic Growth and Air Quality in India has numerous challenges. Read here to understand the way forward.

India’s challenge of reconciling rapid economic development with environmental sustainability has gained renewed attention following its reported 176th rank among 177 countries in the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) 2026, including a rank of 175th in air quality.

Recent research has also highlighted the economic consequences of air pollution:

• A study published in Nature Sustainability estimated that aerosol pollution reduced India’s solar power generation by 9.6% in 2023.
• The State of Global Air 2025 report attributed more than 20 lakh deaths in India in 2023 to air pollution.
• Economic assessments indicate substantial losses from healthcare expenditure, premature mortality and reduced labour productivity.

These findings challenge the assumption that environmental protection necessarily comes at the expense of economic growth. Instead, they demonstrate that clean air is an essential component of public health, economic productivity and sustainable development.

What Is the Status of Air Quality in India?

1. Environmental Performance Index 2026

The Environmental Performance Index, developed by researchers at Yale and Columbia universities, assesses countries across environmental health, ecosystem vitality and climate change indicators.

According to the EPI 2026 country results:

Indicator	India’s performance
Overall EPI rank	176 out of 177 countries
Overall EPI score	22.46
Environmental Health rank	174
Air Quality rank	175
Air Quality score	7.89

These rankings indicate substantial environmental challenges, particularly regarding pollution-related health outcomes.

However, the EPI is a composite index, and its results depend on indicator selection, data availability, and weighting. Interpret it alongside national monitoring data and other scientific assessments.

2. IQAir World Air Quality Report 2025

According to the report:

• India’s annual average PM2.5 concentration declined from 50.6 µg/m³ in 2024 to 48.9 µg/m³ in 2025.
• India ranked as the sixth most polluted country.
• New Delhi remained the world’s most polluted capital, with an annual PM2.5 concentration of 82.2 µg/m³.
• Loni in Uttar Pradesh recorded an annual concentration of 112.5 µg/m³.

Despite improvements, India’s PM2.5 levels remained substantially above the WHO annual guideline of 5 µg/m³.

3. National Clean Air Programme Progress

• Under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), 108 of the 130 covered cities reportedly recorded lower annual PM10 concentrations in FY 2025-26 compared with the 2017-18 baseline.
• Of these, 26 cities achieved reductions exceeding 40%.
• Nevertheless, reductions in PM10 do not necessarily translate into equivalent reductions in PM2.5, which can arise from different sources and atmospheric chemical processes.

Why Is Balancing Economic Growth with Air Quality Challenging?

1. Industrialisation and Pollution-Intensive Growth

India’s expanding industrial, construction and infrastructure sectors contribute significantly to economic growth, employment and urbanisation.

However, several economic activities generate substantial air pollution:

• Coal-fired electricity generation releases sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter.
• Manufacturing industries emit particulate matter and gaseous pollutants.
• Construction and mining generate dust.
• Freight transport contributes diesel exhaust and nitrogen oxides.
• Agricultural residue burning causes seasonal pollution episodes.

Upgrading industrial facilities requires capital investment, technological capacity and regulatory compliance.

For smaller enterprises, these costs can create financial pressures, particularly when cleaner technologies are expensive or difficult to access.

2. Energy Security Versus Emission Reduction

India faces the dual challenge of meeting rising electricity demand while reducing pollution from fossil fuels.

The International Energy Agency projects strong growth in India’s electricity demand through 2030, driven by industrialisation, urbanisation, rising incomes and electrification.

Although renewable energy capacity is expanding, coal continues to play an important role in electricity generation.

This creates a difficult transition:

• Rapidly reducing coal dependence without adequate alternatives may affect energy reliability and affordability.
• Continuing reliance on poorly controlled coal combustion imposes health and environmental costs.
• Renewable energy expansion requires investment in storage, transmission infrastructure and grid flexibility.

Therefore, India needs a phased transition that combines energy security with progressively stronger emission controls.

3. Cost of Pollution-Control Technologies

• Technologies such as Flue Gas Desulphurisation (FGD) reduce sulphur dioxide emissions from thermal power plants.
• However, their installation involves substantial capital expenditure, operating costs and, depending on the technology, additional water and energy requirements.
• In July 2025, the Union government revised the regulatory framework for sulphur dioxide emission controls at coal-based thermal power plants, reducing universal FGD requirements and adopting differentiated requirements for plant categories.
• The decision reflects competing considerations involving pollution control, electricity costs and local environmental conditions.

Why is SO2 important?

• Sulphur dioxide can react in the atmosphere to form sulphate aerosols, an important component of secondary PM2.5 pollution.
• Thus, inadequate control of gaseous emissions can contribute to fine particulate pollution even where visible dust emissions decline.

4. Fragmented Governance and Transboundary Pollution

Air pollution does not respect administrative boundaries.

Pollutants released in one district or state can be transported across large distances by atmospheric circulation.

For example, pollution episodes in the Indo-Gangetic Plain involve multiple sources, including:

• Industrial and power-sector emissions
• Vehicular pollution
• Agricultural residue burning
• Household biomass combustion
• Construction dust
• Meteorological conditions that restrict pollutant dispersion

City-specific interventions alone cannot adequately address pollution transported from surrounding regions.

This creates a collective-action problem, where individual jurisdictions may have limited incentives or capacity to reduce emissions whose benefits extend beyond their boundaries.

5. Affordability and Sustained Use of Clean Technologies

• The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) has expanded access to LPG connections among low-income households.
• However, access does not necessarily guarantee exclusive or sustained use.
• High refill costs, irregular incomes and the availability of freely collected biomass can encourage households to continue using traditional cooking fuels.
• This practice, known as fuel stacking, contributes to household air pollution and can also affect ambient air quality.
• Therefore, clean-energy policies must address affordability and sustained adoption rather than infrastructure access alone.

6. The Economic Cost of Air Pollution

Air pollution generates substantial economic losses through:

• Increased healthcare expenditure
• Premature mortality and disability
• Reduced labour productivity
• Lost working days
• Lower agricultural yields
• Damage to infrastructure and ecosystems

A Dalberg Advisors–Clean Air Fund assessment estimated that air pollution imposed economic costs of approximately USD 260 billion on India in 2024, equivalent to around 6% of GDP.

One important mechanism is presenteeism, where employees continue working despite illness but experience reduced productivity.

Such estimates are model-based and depend on the valuation of health, productivity and other impacts. Nevertheless, they demonstrate that pollution imposes costs beyond the healthcare system.

7. Air Pollution Reduces Renewable Energy Productivity

• A study published in Nature Sustainability estimated that aerosol pollution reduced India’s solar power generation by approximately 6% in 2023.
• Atmospheric aerosols scatter and absorb incoming solar radiation, reducing the sunlight reaching photovoltaic panels.
• This creates a significant economic contradiction: pollution associated with conventional energy and industrial activities can reduce the efficiency of renewable energy infrastructure.
• Cleaner air could therefore improve solar electricity generation while simultaneously reducing health risks.

8. The Aerosol-Climate Paradox

• Some atmospheric aerosols scatter sunlight and produce a cooling effect, partially masking greenhouse-gas-induced warming.
• Reducing these aerosols can reveal part of the underlying warming influence of accumulated greenhouse gases.
• However, aerosol effects vary according to composition, location and atmospheric conditions. Black carbon, for example, absorbs sunlight and contributes to warming.
• This does not justify maintaining harmful air pollution. Instead, it reinforces the need to reduce greenhouse gases and air pollutants together while strengthening heat-resilience measures.

Why Should Air Quality Improvement be Considered an Economic Priority?

Public Health and Human Capital

• According to the State of Global Air 2025 report, more than 20 lakh deaths in India in 2023 were attributable to air pollution.
• These are epidemiological estimates of attributable mortality, rather than individually certified causes of death.
• Air pollution is associated with cardiovascular diseases, respiratory illnesses, lung cancer and other adverse health outcomes.
• Reducing exposure can improve population health, educational outcomes and workforce productivity.

Labour Productivity and Economic Competitiveness

• Pollution-related illness, fatigue and absenteeism can reduce productivity in both formal and informal sectors.
• Cleaner air can improve working conditions and reduce the economic burden of disease.

Agricultural Productivity

• Ground-level ozone can damage crops by interfering with photosynthesis and plant growth.
• Reducing ozone precursors such as nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds can therefore support agricultural productivity.

Renewable Energy Efficiency

• Lower aerosol concentrations can improve solar radiation availability, enhancing photovoltaic performance under otherwise comparable conditions.

Long-Term Fiscal Sustainability

• Reduced pollution-related illness can lower public healthcare burdens and improve economic participation.
• Consequently, air quality improvement should be viewed as an investment in long-term economic development rather than merely a regulatory expense.

What Measures are Needed to Balance Economic Growth with Air Quality?

1. Adopt an Airshed-Based Governance Framework

An airshed is a geographical area within which air pollutants circulate and interact under prevailing meteorological conditions.

Unlike administrative boundaries, airsheds reflect atmospheric transport and pollutant dispersion.

India should adopt regional air-quality management frameworks, particularly across the Indo-Gangetic Plain.

Key measures include:

• Coordinated emission inventories across states
• Regional pollution-reduction targets
• Joint monitoring and forecasting systems
• Inter-state coordination on agricultural burning, transport and industrial emissions
• Shared accountability for measurable improvements in air quality

Existing institutions, including the Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and adjoining areas, offer experience relevant to regional coordination.

2. Strengthen Industrial Emission Standards

Industrial policy should encourage cleaner production through:

• Effective particulate-matter control equipment.
• Context-appropriate sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide controls.
• Continuous emission monitoring systems.
• Energy-efficient industrial processes.
• Cleaner fuels and electrification where technically feasible.

The Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT) framework has supported industrial energy efficiency. However, energy-efficiency improvements alone do not guarantee reductions in all local air pollutants.

Industrial energy policy and air-pollution regulation should therefore operate as complementary instruments.

3. Accelerate Clean Energy and Transport

India should expand renewable electricity while strengthening grid infrastructure, energy storage and flexible power systems.

In the transport sector, priorities include:

• Electrification of public transport
• Improved urban mass transit
• Stronger vehicle emission compliance
• Cleaner freight logistics
• Non-motorised transport infrastructure
• Reduced congestion and better urban planning

The transition should also account for the lifecycle emissions of technologies and the electricity used to power them.

4. Ensure Affordable and Sustained Clean Cooking

• The government should strengthen PMUY through targeted support for LPG refills and other suitable clean-cooking solutions.
• Affordability, supply reliability and behavioural factors must be addressed to reduce continued dependence on biomass.
• Electric cooking and other clean technologies may complement LPG where electricity supply and household economics permit.

5. Improve Waste and Agricultural Residue Management

Open burning of municipal waste and crop residues should be reduced through economically viable alternatives.

Relevant initiatives include:

• Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0
• GOBARdhan
• Biomethanation and organic waste processing
• Crop-residue collection and utilisation
• Bioenergy and industrial applications for agricultural residues

Farmers and local bodies require financial incentives, reliable collection systems and viable markets for alternatives to burning.

6. Shift Towards Outcome-Based Air Quality Financing

Public funding should increasingly reward measurable reductions in pollution exposure rather than expenditure on equipment alone.

Potential indicators include:

• Population-weighted annual PM2.5 exposure.
• Verified reductions in industrial and transport emissions.
• Compliance with ambient air-quality standards.
• Reduced household solid-fuel use.
• Improved monitoring coverage and data reliability.

Funding mechanisms involving the Union government, states and urban local bodies should incorporate transparent reporting and independent evaluation.

Any new Finance Commission-linked incentives should be designed within the applicable constitutional and fiscal framework.

7. Strengthen Air Quality Monitoring and Scientific Research

• India requires better integration of ground-based monitoring, satellite observations, meteorological models and source-apportionment studies.
• Special attention should be given to secondary PM2.5 formation from sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and ammonia.
• Monitoring should extend beyond major cities to industrial clusters, smaller towns and rural regions.

8. Integrate Air Quality with Climate and Health Policies

Air pollution control should be coordinated with climate mitigation, heat-action planning and public health preparedness.

This can deliver multiple benefits:

• Lower greenhouse gas emissions.
• Reduced exposure to harmful pollutants.
• Improved energy efficiency.
• Greater resilience to extreme heat.
• Reduced pressure on healthcare systems.

Integrated policy is especially important because some measures, such as fossil-fuel reduction and clean cooking, can deliver both climate and air-quality benefits.

What Can India Learn from International Experience?

• China’s experience demonstrates that industrial growth and pollution reduction can occur simultaneously when supported by sustained regulation, technological upgrading and enforcement.
• Its measures have included industrial emission standards, power-sector pollution controls, improved monitoring and cleaner energy deployment.
• However, the transferability of these measures depends on India’s institutional capacity, energy mix, industrial structure and development priorities.
• The central lesson is that pollution reduction requires consistent implementation and structural changes, not only short-term emergency restrictions.

Constitutional and Sustainable Development Dimensions

The right to a clean and healthy environment forms part of the constitutional protection of life under Article 21, as recognised in Indian environmental jurisprudence.

In M.K. Ranjitsinh v. Union of India (2024), the Supreme Court also recognised the right to be free from the adverse effects of climate change under Articles 14 and 21.

Other relevant constitutional provisions include:

• Article 48A: Directs the State to protect and improve the environment.
• Article 51A(g): Places a fundamental duty on citizens to protect and improve the natural environment.

Improving air quality also contributes to several Sustainable Development Goals:

SDG	Relevance
SDG 3– Good Health and Well-being	Reducing pollution-related disease and premature mortality
SDG 7- Affordable and Clean Energy	Promoting cleaner energy and cooking technologies
SDG 8- Decent Work and Economic Growth	Improving labour productivity and economic resilience
SDG 11- Sustainable Cities and Communities	Reducing urban air pollution
SDG 13- Climate Action	Integrating emission reductions and climate mitigation

Conclusion

India’s development ambitions and environmental responsibilities need not be treated as competing objectives.

Air pollution damages human health, reduces labour productivity, affects agricultural output and even undermines renewable energy generation. Its economic costs demonstrate that delaying pollution control can weaken the foundations of long-term growth.

Achieving Viksit Bharat @2047 will therefore require a development model that combines industrial competitiveness, affordable clean energy, regional airshed governance and measurable reductions in population exposure to pollution.

The ultimate measure of sustainable economic progress is not growth achieved despite environmental degradation, but growth accompanied by cleaner air, healthier citizens and greater ecological resilience.

Possible Mains Question

Air pollution is not merely an environmental challenge but also a significant economic constraint on India’s development. Examine the challenges in balancing industrial growth with air quality improvement and suggest a sustainable policy framework. (250 words)