India accounts for 59 per cent of the world’s increase in pollution since 2013, making it the single largest contributor to rising global PM2.5 levels

Air pollution has emerged as India’s second leading risk factor for death and disability, trailing only high blood pressure, according to the latest Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) 2025 report. The study highlights that polluted air reduces the average Indian’s life expectancy by five years, with residents in the country’s most polluted regions such as the Northern Plains, Chhattisgarh, Tripura, and Jharkhand losing up to eight years.

The report stressed the gravity of particulate pollution, noting that India’s annual PM2.5 concentration in 2023 was 11 times higher than the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline of 5 µg/m³. Alarmingly, every one of India’s 1.4 billion people is exposed to air that exceeds the global health benchmark.

India’s air quality challenge has global implications. The country alone accounts for 59 per cent of the world’s increase in pollution since 2013, making it the single largest contributor to rising global PM2.5 levels.

In response, the Government of India launched the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) in 2019, aiming to cut particulate concentrations in 131 cities by 20–30 per cent from 2017 levels by 2024. The timeline has since been extended to 2026. Under the programme, cities receive funding for air quality monitoring, road dust control, waste management, and public awareness campaigns.

Despite these measures, experts warn that progress remains uneven and insufficient to offset the scale of the crisis. The report calls for urgent, multi-sectoral interventions to address the health and economic toll of air pollution, positioning clean air as a national development priority.