Pathways to Achieve National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) in India

The rapid economic growth and steep population increase in India’s urban areas, and the lack of policy measures to control pollution in these regions, are causing public health problems, significant environmental degradation, including of air, water, and land, and increased production of greenhouse gases. Together, these undermine the potential for sustainable socio-economic development of the country, and will particularly have severe implications for the poor. A large share of the Indian population is exposed to pollution levels that do not conform to global and national air quality standards. Globally, Indian cities rank poorly in terms of air pollution. Numerous monitoring sites across India report high concentrations of PM2.5, which exceed the benchmark limit (of 40 μg/m³) suggested by the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). It is estimated that in 2015, more than half the Indian population—about 670 million people—were exposed to ambient PM2.5 concentrations that do not comply with India’s NAAQS. Further, less than one per cent enjoyed air quality that met the global World Health Organization (WHO) benchmark limit of 10 μg/m³. About one-quarter of the population lived in areas where the WHO guideline was exceeded by more than nine times. Exposure to air pollution poses a serious health burden in India. Available health impact assessments suggest that several hundred thousand cases of premature deaths annually are attributable to pollution.