Air

Much before air pollution emerged as a critical health and environment issue in India, we developed state-of-the-art capacities for studying air quality. Our research focusses on a range of issues, including ambient air quality and apportionment of contributing source , indoor air quality assessment for urban and rural households, regional scale assessment, impacts on health and agriculture, and capacity building of stakeholders for better management. Our research and analyses have been taken into account by policy makers for improvements in various standards and policies.

air

NEW IN AIR

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    Report

    Cost effectiveness of interventions for control of air pollution in Delhi

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    Project

    Support to Government of Uttar Pradesh for establishment of Strategic and Policy Advisory Unit for Uttar Pradesh Clean Air Management Programme (UP CAMP)

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    Explainer

    How evidence-based actions can help achieve breathable air in Indian cities

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    Event

    TERI showcases Urban Air Pollution Solutions at the “Clean Air Blue Sky Days” in Jaipur

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    Event

    स्वस्थ शरीर के लिए निशुल्क स्वास्थ्य शिविर

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Projects

Articles

Burning Point: Increasing Heatwaves Threaten Lives Across India

Ms Suruchi Bhadwal
,
Mr K Venkatramana

In April 2025, Delhi experienced an intense heatwave, recording the hottest day of the year so far and the warmest night in six years. It also marked the highest maximum temperature for April in the last three years. These conditions, now becoming more frequent and severe, are a stark reminder of the urgent need to address heat-related risks.

Bridging the Gap: The Urgent Need for Enhanced Public Transport in India’s Air Quality Mission

Dr Anju Goel

A cornerstone of the National Clean Air Program (NCAP) is that it prioritizes micro-level interventions like improving urban infrastructure, monitoring networks, and sustainable practices. The XIV Finance Commission allocated ₹36,000 crores to support city specific action plans tailored to their challenges. Despite this funding, achieving NCAP’s ambitious targets necessitates tackling a major source to urban air pollution- Road Transport.

दिल्ली में बढ़ता वायु प्रदूषण संकट: बदलते स्रोतों, AQI रुझानों और स्थानीय-क्षेत्रीय योगदान का गहन विश्लेषण

Dr Anju Goel

दिल्ली की बिगड़ती वायु गुणवत्ता ने जीवन स्तर को गंभीर रूप से प्रभावित किया है, जिससे निवासियों को गंभीर स्वास्थ्य समस्याओं और दैनिक कठिनाइयों का सामना करना पड़ रहा है। यह स्थिति अब एक बड़े सार्वजनिक स्वास्थ्य संकट में बदल चुकी है। पिछले दो दशकों में प्रदूषण के स्रोत बदल गए हैं, और कई उपायों के बावजूद शहर खतरनाक वायु गुणवत्ता से जूझ रहा है। दिल्ली में वायु प्रदूषण इतना व्यापक हो चुका है कि यह निवासियों के स्वास्थ्य, कल्याण और भविष्य के लिए खतरा बन गया है।

Indoor Air Quality Challenges in India during the winter Season

Discover India’s indoor air quality challenges during the winter season, the pollution impacts on health, and solutions to improve IAQ for a healthier environment.

Air pollution causing heart diseases

Dr Kanhaiya Lal

Air pollution is one of the five leading causes of death worldwide. An eminent cardiologist associated with the Harvard Medical School presents terrifying statistics on worldwide deaths linked to air pollution. Air pollution-linked illness was found to be seven crores globally, and 70 lakh people lost their lives, according to the WHO. Out of these deaths, about 24 lakh deaths were associated with Ischemic Heart Disease (IHD), and 13 lakh deaths were due to heart strokes, that is, a total of 37 lakh deaths from heart-ailments.

Events

TERI showcases Urban Air Pollution Solutions at the “Clean Air Blue Sky Days” in Jaipur

September 7, 2024
to September 7, 2024

The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) proudly participated in the ‘Clean Air Blue Sky Day’ celebration organised by the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) on September 7, 2024, at the Jaipur Exhibition and Convention Centre, Rajasthan. TERI's stall featured cutting-edge interventions aimed at addressing urban air pollution, demonstrating its commitment to sustainable solutions across India.

Stakeholders Meeting on Local Air Quality Management Plan for Golghar and Shaheed Smarak areas in Patna

August 13, 2024
to August 13, 2024

On August 13, 2024, an orientation meeting for the Local Air Quality Management Plan was convened with stakeholders at the Bihar State Pollution Control Board (BSPCB) in Patna. This initiative, spearheaded by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in collaboration with BSPCB, the Patna Municipal Corporation, and the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), is focused on managing air pollution around two historic landmarks in Patna: Golghar and Shaheed Smarak.

Capacity Building Program on Ambient Air Quality Management in Kolkata

February 27, 2024
to February 27, 2024

A three-day program on capacity building for Ambient Air Quality Management was held in Kolkata at the West Bengal Pollution Control Board's Training Hall at Mani Square for staff members of the National Clean Air Program from different cities in West Bengal and other officials.

Book Release: TERI Energy & Environment Data Diary and Yearbook (TEDDY) 2022-23

January 23, 2024
to January 23, 2024

TERI Energy & Environment Data Diary and Yearbook (TEDDY) is an annual publication brought out by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) since 1986. TEDDY presents latest information on energy supply sectors (coal and lignite, petroleum and natural gas, power and renewable energy sources), energy demand sectors (agriculture, industry, transport, residential, and commercial sectors), and environment (local and global). It seeks to support policy research and decision-making by providing policymakers and researchers with the data which can be used to develop actionable solutions.

“स्वस्थ शरीर के लिए निशुल्क स्वास्थ्य शिविर”

September 1, 2023
to September 1, 2023

In response to the growing concerns surrounding air pollution in Kanpur and its adverse effect on public health, TERI has organised comprehensive health camp under the CAP India Project supported by SDC.

News

Delhi CM pitches for year-round anti-pollution plan

June 2, 2025 |
June 4, 2025
The Hindu

At the Aironomics 2025 event, Delhi Chief Minister Ms Rekha Gupta calls for community participation, institutional reforms, and budget-backed efforts to fight pollution across seasons Aironomics 2025, hosted by the Council for International Economic Understanding (CIEU) and organised under the Bharat Climate Forum in collaboration with advisory firm Dalberg, brought together representatives from the WHO, UNEP, the World Bank, IITs, TERI, NGT, CPCB, and others.

CAQM: Will make Delhi, 8 NCR cities dust-free

June 4, 2025 |
June 4, 2025
The Hindustan Times

The roads of Delhi and eight other cities in the National Capital Region (NCR) will undergo a redesign to make them dust-free, which will help in improving public health, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) said. A 2018 The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) source apportionment study also found dust to be playing a significant role in the summer months, contributing to around 42% to PM 10 in the season.

Why India is unable to meet WHO air quality standards

May 26, 2025
| Mr R Suresh, TERI; Mr Shivang Agarwal, IGSD
| 360info.org

Managing air quality by airshed, not by city administrative boundaries, is essential for moving towards cleaner air in India, write Mr R Suresh, Senior Fellow, Air Quality Research Division, TERI and Mr Shivang Agarwal, Technical Fellow, IGSD.

A summer spike: What made Delhi AQI levels rise this week?

May 16, 2025 |
May 16, 2025
The Week

According to Dr Anju Goel, an AQI expert and Fellow & Associate Director at The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), the spike is "primarily driven by dust storms". "Since the past few days, there has been a rise in the wind speed. This brings in a significant amount of dust from Rajasthan".

Delhi govt to control dust at construction sites, clean trees regularly to curb pollution

April 5, 2025 |
April 5, 2025
The Print

In a push to tackle air pollution in the capital, the Delhi government is likely to roll out micro-level interventions. A meeting between Environment Minister Mr Manjinder Singh Sirsa and representatives from premier institutions such as IIT-Delhi, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), Clean Air Collective was held at the Delhi Secretariat.

Glass facades are not cool anymore: Our economic hubs are heat Islands

April 2, 2025 |
April 3, 2025
News18

The Energy Research Institute campus does not use air-conditioning. Instead, it has been designed with air tunnels to cool by removing hot air and replacing it with fresh air. This keeps the ambient temperature inside the rooms in the campus at a comfortable level.

Policy

Shifting Gears Towards Cleaner Air: Modernizing Urban Fleets for a Greener Future in India’s Million-Plus Cities

April 23, 2025

In response to extreme levels of fine particulate air pollution in India and the increasing recognition of its adverse health impacts, the Indian government launched the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) in January 2019 (Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, 2019). The NCAP aims to improve air quality in 131 cities, including non-attainment cities and Million Plus Cities across 24 states through a multi-stakeholder engagement approach. All 131 cities have developed city Action Plans (CAPs) and are being implemented by Urban Local Bodies.

Could the National Capital Region serve as a control region for effective air quality management in Delhi?

November 4, 2020

Air pollution does not follow administrative boundaries, and needs to be tackled at the regional "airshed" level at which it is caused. Identifying the appropriate candidates for airshed management requires scientific analysis using systematically developed emissions inventories and dispersion models to simulate the impact of the estimated emissions on air quality.

Emissions control in thermal power stations: Issues, challenges, and the way forward

February 21, 2020

As per TERI's analysis, of the total environmental pollution in 2016, the power sector reportedly accounted for 51% of sulphur dioxide (SO2), 43% of carbon dioxide (CO2), 20% of oxides of nitrogen (NOx), and 7% of PM2.5 emissions.

Crop residue management: Solution to achieve better air quality

January 30, 2020

Residents of different cities (probably villages too) of India breathe some of the least healthy air of the globe. During 2017, about 76.8% of the population of India were exposed to annual population-weighted mean PM2·5 greater than the limit recommended by the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQ: 40 mg/m3) (Balakrishnan, Dey, Gupta, et al. 2019). Over last five years, the annual population-weighted mean ambient PM2·5 concentrations were significantly higher over the Indo- Gangetic Plain (IGP) region in comparison to other parts of the country.

Fleet Modernization: A solution to achieve better air quality

December 10, 2019

India's transport demand has grown from a total of 5.3 million in 1981 to 230 million in 2016, with two-wheelers and cars having 73% and 14% share, respectively. Commercial vehicles though constitute only about 5% of the total fleet, contribute to nearly 80% of total PM emissions.

Phase-wise implementation of fleet modernization (transforming pre BS-IV commercial vehicles to BS-VI) would lead to a 40-80% reduction in PM and NOx emissions from the sector by 2025.

Opportunities with Biofuel: Co-benefit of Air Quality Improvement

December 5, 2019

While biofuels have been discussed as one of the ways to reduce air pollution, changing the process of bio-diesel production is needed to reduce tailpipe emissions of nanoparticles. These are lesser known pollutants even more harmful than PM2.5 and PM10.

Team

Associate Director, Air Quality Research
Area Convenor, Environment and Health Assessment
Area Convenor, Centre for Air Quality Research