New Delhi: India needs to adopt a health-led approach to clean air, with explicit targets to reduce fine-particle pollution under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), according to the FICCI-EY knowledge paper, “Clean air, healthy India.
The paper notes that more than two million deaths in India were attributable to air pollution in 2023. It points to PM2.5, or particulate matter measuring 2.5 microns or less, which can penetrate deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream.
Prolonged exposure is associated with respiratory illness, heart disease, stroke and cognitive impairment, with wider consequences for healthcare expenditure and productivity.
Dr. Ashutosh Raghuvanshi, Chair, FICCI Health Services Committee and MD and CEO, Fortis Healthcare said, “Clean air must be central to India’s healthcare agenda, not treated solely as an environmental objective. Healthcare institutions have an important role to play in strengthening public awareness, tracking pollution-related illness and improving preparedness. The FICCI-EY report calls for closer collaboration between government, industry and healthcare providers to translate clean-air commitments into measurable improvements in public health.”
Dr. Arun Agarwal, Chair, FICCI Working Group on Air Pollution (Healthcare Perspective); Former Dean, MAMC; Former Additional Director General of Health Services, GoI; Medical Advisor, Apollo Hospitals Group said, “We need to move beyond seasonal responses to air pollution and make exposure reduction a year-round public health priority.
“This requires linking air-quality monitoring with health surveillance, strengthening preventive action and tailoring interventions to local pollution sources. The FICCI-EY report provides a framework for coordinated action, with success measured not just by cleaner air, but by better health outcomes.”
FICCI-EY urged early and immediate action against air pollution ahead of the peak pollution season and recommended 10 practical solutions.
This includes making large construction sites closed-loop for dust to address construction and demolition emissions to curb urban pollution, and identifying hotspots linked to traffic, industry, construction and waste burning, and to test which interventions work.
It also recommended the use of smart traffic signals to reduce congestion and vehicle emissions from idling and stop-start traffic.
To address industrial and backup-power emissions, it recommended running industrial pollution markets on live stack-emissions data, retrofitting traditional brick kilns to zig-zag firing, and replacing diesel backup with battery-hybrid systems.
It also proposes technology-led solutions to improve monitoring and control industrial exhaust, diesel soot and pollution in high-exposure locations.
The other recommendations include converting crop residue into fuel and marketable products to address stubble burning, and using recovered plastic, industrial residue and construction and demolition waste to build houses and infrastructure.
The paper said clear government standards and predictable regulations must be set to support implementation.
“Industry action should promote efficiency, competitiveness and innovation. Healthcare institutions should strengthen surveillance and public advisories, while communities need reliable information and opportunities to participate in local clean-air decisions,” it added.
