Clean Air Policy in India: From Administrative Compliance to Measurable Outcomes

29 Oct 2026

Tags: Environment   Conservation   Pollution control

Source: The Indian Express

India’s Air Pollution Challenge

• Seasonal pollution: India faces recurring air pollution alongside other environmental crises such as heatwaves and floods. Despite repeated interventions, toxic air continues to threaten public health, livelihoods and productivity.
• Lucknow’s performance: The Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan rankings recognised Lucknow as the best-performing million-plus city. Its annual average PM10 concentration declined from 253 micrograms per cubic metre in 2017–18 to around 135, but remains more than twice the national standard of 60 micrograms per cubic metre.
• Delhi’s persistent pollution: A recent analysis by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) found no appreciable improvement in Delhi’s winter air quality over four years, despite pollution-control measures and the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).

 

Limitations of India’s Clean-Air Strategy

• Administrative performance versus actual outcomes: Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan evaluates activities such as road sweeping, waste management, sidewalk paving and action-plan preparation. Actual reductions in particulate pollution account for only 2.5% of a city’s total score, allowing cities to receive recognition despite persistently unsafe air.
• National Clean Air Programme (NCAP): India has improved its capacity to design pollution-control programmes, allocate budgets and monitor municipal action. However, the framework insufficiently accounts for the economic and health costs of delays in implementation.
• Institutional fragmentation: Air pollution originates from transport, electricity generation, industries, waste management, agriculture and household cooking, which fall under different ministries, departments and urban agencies. Treating clean air primarily as the environment department’s responsibility weakens coordination and accountability.

 

Economic Costs and Benefits of Clean Air

• Economic burden: The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, in their assessment Hidden Assets, highlight that South Asia bears the world’s heaviest economic burden from air pollution, losing the equivalent of 10% of regional GDP annually through reduced productivity and healthcare costs.
• Returns on investment: Every rupee invested in a package of 25 climate and clean-air measures could generate an estimated ₹21 in economic and health benefits, including lower medical expenditure, fewer missed workdays, higher productivity and lives saved. Excluding non-market benefits, the estimated global return is ₹4 per rupee invested.
• Cost of delayed action: If Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) meet national air quality standards on schedule from 2026, their cumulative PM2.5 exposure burden could decline by 20% by 2040. An eight-year delay could halve this reduction. Delayed interventions cannot recover health, educational and productivity losses already incurred.

 

Way Forward: Accountability and Time-Bound Targets

• Outcome-based assessment: As the government considers NCAP 2.0, clean-air performance should be measured by actual reductions in pollution exposure, the speed at which health benefits reach people and compliance with implementation deadlines, rather than administrative activity alone.
• Clear institutional responsibility: Assign specific responsibilities and deadlines to ministries, State governments and urban agencies, with consequences for missed targets and stronger coordination across pollution-generating sectors.
• Performance-linked funding: Central grants and Finance Commission transfers should reward sustained reductions in pollution exposure, creating financial incentives for measurable improvements in air quality.
• Learn from successful transitions: The expansion of rural liquefied petroleum gas connections under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana and the growth of solar power demonstrate India’s capacity to implement large-scale transitions when responsibilities and delivery mechanisms are clear.
• Prioritise timely implementation: Clean-air policy requires enforceable targets, monitoring and accountability. Delaying pollution-control measures means permanently losing potential health and economic benefits.

 

Relevant Concepts for UPSC

• PM10 and PM2.5: PM10 refers to particulate matter with a diameter of 10 micrometres or less, while PM2.5 refers to particles of 2.5 micrometres or less. PM2.5 can penetrate deeper into the lungs and is associated with serious respiratory and cardiovascular risks.
• National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS): Prescribed by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), these standards specify permissible ambient concentrations of major air pollutants. The annual standard for PM10 is 60 µg/m³, while that for PM2.5 is 40 µg/m³.
• Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP): An emergency framework for the Delhi-NCR region that prescribes progressively stricter pollution-control measures according to air quality and forecast conditions.

National Clean Air Programme (NCAP): Launched in 2019 by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to improve air quality through city-specific action plans, monitoring and coordinated pollution-control measures.