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Last updated
July 26, 2025

India

Air pollution and India research documents one of the world's most severe air quality challenges, affecting over a billion people in the world's most populous nation. Studies reveal extreme pollution levels in major cities that far exceed international health guidelines, creating a public health emergency that affects everything from child development to life expectancy. The research highlights unique challenges including rapid industrialisation, agricultural burning, and dense urban populations that require comprehensive policy responses. Explore the evidence documenting India's air quality crisis and the innovative solutions being developed to address this massive challenge.
  • Cap and trade market on large, coal-burning plants set up in the city of Surat.The plants that participated in the market reduced particulate emissions by 20 to 30 percent overall, relative to plants that were experimentally assigned to continue with the status quo form of regulation. Further, plants that participated in the market benefited from 11 percent lower pollution abatement costs that increased their profits. (Greenstone, 2025)
    • Benefit-to-cost ratio of 1.2
    • Expanded market to plants originally left as controls, and created a second market in Gujarat’s largest city, Ahmedabad
  • The entire population of India (1.4 billion) lives in areas where PM2.5 levels exceed WHO guidelines. In some regions, levels of up to 119 micrograms per cubic meter were measured, significantly higher than what both the WHO and India consider safe (Jaganathan et al., 2024)
  • Found that every 10 microgram per cubic meter increase in PM2.5 concentration led to an 8.6 percent increase in mortality (Stearnbourne, 2024)

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