India rolls out targeted air pollution control plans for 130 major cities
The city-specific plans, part of the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), will target air polluting sources like soil and road dust, vehicles, domestic fuel, municipal solid waste burning, construction material, and industries, the minister told Parliament.
Air pollution in India, especially in its big cities, is a major issue, and it is severely affecting public health and the overall quality of life. The government had launched the NCAP in 2019 to reduce air pollution.
Source Apportionment (SA) studies conducted in cities under the NCAP reveals that dust from road and construction and demolition activities are the major sources of PM10 that contributes 40-50% to the pollution in most cities. SA is defined as a local study that determines the contributing sources to ambient particulate matter (PM) measured at monitoring stations.
Under the NCAP, the cities have prioritized road improvement works, traffic decongestion, junction improvements, and greening of open spaces under the specific action plans, Singh said.
Around ₹ 13,036 crore has been released for the 130 cities under NCAP from the start of FY20 to 20 July, 2025 towards implementation of various activities to control air pollution. Of this amount, ₹ 9,209 crore has been utilized by urban local bodies.
Specific actions towards the control of industrial pollution are primarily being implemented by industries and the monitoring and enforcement of emission norms are being carried out by the state pollution control boards.
To address vehicular pollution, the government has notified BS-VI emission norms for fuels, leapfrogging from BS-IV. The central government has also launched schemes such as PM E-DRIVE and PM-eBus Sewa to promote electric mobility.
In order to control biomass burning in agricultural fields, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has framed guidelines to provide a one-time financial assistance for setting up of paddy straw-based pelletisation and torrefaction plants that may help address the supply chain issues and the issue of open burning of paddy straw in fields in north India.
The Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and adjoining areas (CAQM) has also issued directions for co-firing of 5-10% biomass with coal in thermal power plants located within 300 km of Delhi, and in captive power plants of industrial units located in NCR.
Performance-based grants are also being released to urban local bodies of the earmarked 130 cities under NCAP through the Central Sector Scheme Control of Pollution and the 15th Finance Commission (XVFC) air quality grants for implementation of the activities of approved city action plans.
The minister also rejected a private entity report,'World Air Quality Report 2024', which had ranked India as world's fifth most-polluted country.
Singh said, as per report, 38% of data sources are from government agencies and the remaining 62% is from other agencies. The data used for analysis includes data generated through low-cost sensors (LCS), which is not used for regulatory purposes.
The data from a variety of monitors and data sources may have a degree of error and uncertainty and is, therefore, prone to be misleading, the minister told Parliament.
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