SDG 3: Good Health & Well-Being | SDG 11: Sustainable Cities & Communities | SDG 13: Climate Action
Governments of Uttar Pradesh | Governments of Haryana
The World Bank Board of Executive Directors has approved financing of approximately $600 million (about ₹5,000 crore) for two multi-sectoral clean-air programmes in Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Haryana — aimed at improving air quality for nearly 270 million people across the two states and the wider Indo-Gangetic plains.
The Uttar Pradesh Clean Air Management Programme (UPCAMP) — financed at about $299.66 million — will build on the state’s existing Clean Air Plan by investing in cleaner mobility (15,000 electric three-wheelers and 500 electric buses in four cities), incentives to replace 13,500 high-emission heavy vehicles, and initiatives for 3.9 million households to gain access to clean cooking solutions.
Under the Haryana Clean Air Project for Sustainable Development (about $300 million), support will focus on airshed-based planning and multi-sector interventions including electric bus services, electric three-wheelers in key urban centres (Gurugram, Sonipat, Faridabad), enhanced air-quality monitoring systems and support for MSMEs to adopt cleaner technologies.
Policy Relevance
This financing represents one of the largest airshed-level clean-air interventions in India, moving beyond city-centric efforts to a regional, cross-sector strategy for pollution reduction. For policymakers, it provides a scalable blueprint for integrating transport electrification, clean cooking access, agricultural residue management and industrial emissions control into air-quality governance. It underscores recognition that pollution is a multi-source, transboundary challenge requiring sustained investment, institutional coordination (state and central), and data-driven monitoring to protect health, productivity and economic opportunity in rapidly urbanising northern India.
What Is an Airshed-Based Approach? An airshed approach considers geographic and meteorological linkages of pollution across regions, enabling coordinated action among neighbouring jurisdictions — critical in the Indo-Gangetic Plains where wind patterns and sources (transport, agriculture, industry) drive shared air-quality outcomes.
Relevant Question for Policy Stakeholders:
How can state governments collaborate with the Centre, city authorities and private investors to ensure that clean-air financing translates into measurable reductions in PM₂.₅ levels — while building sustainable green jobs and resilient urban systems?
Follow the full news here: World Bank Approves Financing for Clean-Air Programs for UP & Haryana