Air Pollution in India: Health and Economic Impact

FOCUS

Artha Centre for Rapid Insights, Artha Global, a Mumbai-based policy research and consulting organisation published this report on air pollution in India in February 2025. It was written by Dr. Neelanjan Sircar, Priya Vedavalli, Ishana Deshpande, Srikavya Peri, Naisha Khanna and Aadya Jain from the centre.

The report examines the health and economic consequences of worsening air pollution in India, particularly in the northern states. In November 2024, the centre conducted a rapid survey of over 8,000 respondents across Bihar, Delhi, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. It found that more than half of respondents or their relations reported pollution-induced respiratory illness with children and the elderly disproportionately impacted.

The 18-page report is structured into four sections: Introduction (Section 1); Rapid Survey Framework and Methodology (Section 2); Findings (Section 3); and Policy Recommendations (Section 4).

    FACTOIDS

  1. A rapid survey across eight states conducted by the centre using mobile interactive voice response (IVR) technology on November 1213, 2024, found more than 55 per cent of respondents or their family members had experienced pollution-induced respiratory illness in the two weeks prior to the survey. The share was higher (over 60 per cent) in states that regularly experienced bad air quality.

  2. More than 65 per cent of the people who suffered the effects of respiratory illness missed at least one day of school or work, the report notes. This is just one of the ways contributing to the loss of 95 billion dollars lost annually by India due to air pollution, it adds.

  3. In 2019, air pollution cost the country 36.8 billion dollars – 1.36 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) – through premature deaths and morbidity, states a World Bank figure cited in the report. Additionally, a Reserve Bank of India study says that by 2030, India could lose around 4.5 per cent of its GDP due to reduction in labour hours caused by extreme heat and air pollution.

  4. The rapid survey found that 40 per cent of respondents coped with air pollution by wearing masks. However, 24 per cent reported not using any protection. Noting that coping mechanisms can often be inaccessible to low-income households, the report highlights that poorer households bear the disproportionate burden of air pollution.

  5. The report calls for a transition from city-focused air pollution policy to an ‘airshed-based’ approach that considers cross-border pollution flows, allowing for increased national collaboration and coordination in efforts to reduce emissions. It also recommends the creation of clear-air or low-emission zones as well as encouragement for flexible work and school arrangements during periods of high-pollution.


    Focus and Factoids by Anaya Singhi.


    PARI Library’s health archive project is part of an initiative supported by the Azim Premji University to develop a free-access repository of health-related reports relevant to rural India.

AUTHOR

Dr. Neelanjan Sircar, Priya Vedavalli, Ishana Deshpande, Srikavya Peri, Naisha Khanna and Aadya Jain

COPYRIGHT

Artha Centre for Rapid Insights, Artha Global

PUBLICATION DATE

Feb, 2025

TAGS

#health #air-pollution #air-quality

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