INDIA RANKS 6TH IN WORLD AIR QUALITY REPORT 2025

Why In News?

The World Air Quality Report 2025 ranked India as the 6th most polluted country.

What is the World Air Quality Report 2025? 

The World Air Quality Report 2025, published by the Swiss technology company IQAir, presents a critical assessment of global air pollution with a primary focus on PM2.5 (fine particulate matter). 

The 2025 report analyzed data from 9,446 cities across 143 countries, regions, and territories, sourced from over 40,000 monitoring stations.

Global Overview

WHO Compliance: Only 14% of global cities met the World Health Organization (WHO) annual PM2.5 guideline of 5 µg/m³ in 2025, a decline from 17% in 2024.

Unsafe Levels: Approximately 91% of countries (130 out of 143) recorded PM2.5 levels exceeding the WHO safe limit.

• Most polluted countries: Pakistan (67.3 µg/m³), Bangladesh (66.1 µg/m³), Tajikistan (57.3 µg/m³), Chad (53.6 µg/m³), and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (50.2 µg/m³).

Cleanest Regions: Only 13 countries/territories met the WHO guideline, including French Polynesia, Iceland, Australia, and Estonia.

• Nieuwoudtville in South Africa is the world’s cleanest city.

Key Findings for India

National PM2.5 Level: India's annual average PM2.5 concentration was 48.9 µg/m³ in 2025. This is a slight improvement from 50.6 µg/m³ in 2024 but is still nearly 10 times the WHO guideline of 5 µg/m³.

Global Ranking: India ranked as the 6th most polluted country.

Most Polluted Capital: New Delhi continues to be the world's most polluted capital city, with an annual PM2.5 concentration of 82.2 µg/m³.

Most Polluted Region: Loni, Uttar Pradesh, was recorded as India's most polluted region in 2025, with a PM2.5 level of 112.5 µg/m³.

Regional Hotspot: Central and South Asia is a global pollution hotspot, with 17 of the world’s 20 most polluted cities located in India and Pakistan.

Core Drivers of Air Pollution in India

Industrial Emissions: Weak enforcement of emission standards for industries, particularly the relaxation of sulfur emission norms for coal-fired power plants, is a primary contributor.

Vehicular Pollution: Rapid urbanization and a surge in private vehicles lead to high concentrations of Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) and particulate matter, especially in congested cities.

Biomass & Stubble Burning: The seasonal burning of crop residue (stubble) in agricultural states like Punjab and Haryana, combined with the widespread use of solid fuels for household cooking, significantly pollutes the air.

Geographical and Meteorological Factors: The Indo-Gangetic Plain acts as a natural basin that traps pollutants. During winters, the phenomenon of temperature inversion prevents the dispersion of pollutants, leading to severe smog.

Impacts of Air Pollution

Public Health

• Air pollution is the greatest public health risk in India.
• Causes over 1.67 million premature deaths annually, accounting for nearly 18% of all mortalities in the country. (Source: The Lancet Planetary Health).
• PM2.5 particles penetrate the lungs and bloodstream, causing respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.

Economic

• Imposes a massive economic burden through lost labour productivity and increased healthcare expenditure.
• The economic damage from stubble burning alone is estimated at $30 billion per year. (Source: World Bank

Environmental

• Black carbon, a component of PM2.5, deposits on Himalayan glaciers, accelerating their melting.
• This threatens the water security for millions dependent on rivers originating from the Himalayas.

Institutional & Policy Framework by Indian Government 

National Clean Air Programme (NCAP): Launched to reduce PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations by 40% by 2026 across 131 non-attainment cities.

Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM): A powerful statutory body formed to coordinate air quality strategies specifically for the NCR and adjoining areas.

Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP): An emergency framework that triggers specific restrictions (e.g., construction bans, odd-even schemes) based on AQI severity.

The PRANA Portal: A dashboard for "Monitoring of Implementation of City Action Plans" to ensure transparency in NCAP progress.

BS-VI Norms: Mandatory leap from BS-IV to BS-VI vehicle emission standards.

FAME-II Scheme: Subsidies to accelerate the adoption of Electric Vehicles (EVs)

SATAT Initiative: Promoting Compressed Bio-Gas (CBG) to manage agricultural waste and provide clean fuel.

Major Challenges: Why Does Pollution Persist?

Airshed Blindness: Most plans are "city-specific," but pollution is trans-boundary. Nearly 30-40% of Delhi’s pollution originates outside its borders, yet regional coordination remains weak. (Source: World Bank)

Resource Misallocation: Under NCAP, 64% of funds are spent on "road dust" (sprinklers/paving), while critical combustion sources like industry and transport receive less than 15% of the budget. (Source:  CREA).

Monitoring Gaps: India has roughly 1,600 monitoring stations, but they are heavily skewed toward urban centers. Rural India, where biomass burning is rampant, remains largely unmonitored. (Source: IQAir).

Enforcement Deficit: State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) face a 50% vacancy rate, limiting their ability to penalize industrial violators. (Source: Centre for Policy Research)

Way Forward 

Airshed-Based Governance: Shift from "City Action Plans" to Regional Airshed Management (e.g., the entire Indo-Gangetic Plain) to tackle pollution at its source.

Real-time Source Apportionment: Every major city must use chemical fingerprinting to identify real-time pollution sources rather than relying on outdated static data.

Public Transport Revolution: Augmenting bus fleets and "last-mile connectivity" to reduce private vehicle dependency, as transport contributes significantly to urban NOx levels.

Crop Residue Circularity: Scaling up the use of stubble for Pelletisation in thermal power plants and Bio-Ethanol production.

Source: THEHINDU