Key Details
The FICCI–EY knowledge paper, Clean Air, Healthy India, argues that progress should be judged by lower exposure to harmful pollution and better health, alongside improvements in air-quality readings.
Finding/Recommendation | What the Paper Reports |
|---|---|
Health burden | More than 20 lakh deaths in India were attributable to air pollution in 2023, based on an estimate cited by the paper. |
Progress under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) | 103 of 130 cities recorded lower PM10 levels in FY2024–25 than in 2017–18; 64 achieved reductions exceeding 20%. |
Missing measure | Retain PM10 tracking while adding explicit PM2.5 reduction targets, exposure indicators and health-linked monitoring. |
Pollution beyond city boundaries | Delhi’s own emissions accounted for approximately 36% of its PM2.5 in winter and 26% in summer, according to the assessment cited in the paper. |
Practical responses | Ten proposed solutions address construction dust, traffic, industrial emissions, diesel backup power, brick kilns, crop-residue burning and other sources. |
Falling PM10 Levels Do Not Tell the Whole Health Story
NCAP cities have made measurable progress on PM10, a category of airborne particles that includes dust. But the paper argues that this measure alone cannot show whether people’s exposure to PM2.5 — finer particles associated with serious health risks — is falling sufficiently. It recommends adding PM2.5 targets, wider monitoring and indicators that connect air quality with exposure and illness. The mortality figure underscores the scale of the problem; it is an attributable-mortality estimate, not a count of individually certified deaths.
Pollution Control Must Follow Sources, Not City Limits
The Delhi estimate illustrates why a city cannot address all its pollution through action within its own boundaries. The sources and mix of pollution also change by location and season: construction and road dust require different responses from vehicle exhaust, industrial emissions or crop-residue burning. The paper therefore calls for source-specific local plans and coordination among neighbouring cities and states that share the same air region.
Its proposed measures include controlling dust at large construction sites, reducing traffic idling, upgrading brick kilns and replacing diesel backup systems with cleaner alternatives. For crop residue, it emphasises creating viable collection and commercial uses so that farmers have alternatives to burning.
Health Services Need to Be Part of Clean-Air Planning
The paper treats air pollution as a year-round public-health issue, not only an emergency during peak smog. It calls for stronger tracking of pollution-related illness, public health advisories and advance preparedness in hospitals and schools. This brings health institutions into a policy effort often measured chiefly through environmental indicators.
Policy Relevance
Adding a PM2.5 target to NCAP would change what authorities are expected to measure and reduce. Better monitoring across smaller cities, peri-urban areas and rural locations would help identify exposure that existing networks may miss. Shared regional plans would also make it harder for neighbouring jurisdictions to treat cross-boundary pollution as someone else’s responsibility.
For the health system, the practical question is whether air-quality information leads to timely warnings and preparedness for people at greater risk. For governments and industry, cleaner alternatives must be affordable and workable at the source — whether for backup power, brick kilns or crop residue. The paper’s recommendations are proposals; their value will depend on sustained reductions in exposure and demonstrable health gains.
Follow the Full Release Here: FICCI–EY Summary of the Paper