A Roadmap Towards Cleaning India’s Air: Evidence-Based Recommendations for More Effective Environmental Regulations

More than 660 million Indians live in areas that exceed the Indian National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for fine particulate (PM2.5) pollution. Our research suggests that if India were to meet its own standards, life expectancy would increase by more than one year on average. Moreover, if India were to meet the WHO’s air quality standard, its people would live about four years longer on average. The economic costs of pollution, through its impact on health care expenditures and workforce productivity, will be significant. Ascribing a monetary value to all of the damages created by pollution is difficult, but an estimate from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) suggests that ambient air pollution alone may cost India more than 0.5 trillion dollars per year (OECD 2014).