As Delhi’s officials finally take tough action on major pollution sources, the demand for a similar approach is rising in other states – as seen at the 8th Indian Clean Air Summit held this week in Bangalore. 

BANGALORE, INDIA – Two decades ago, authorities in Delhi switched public and heavy duty transport from largely diesel to compressed natural gas (CNG), then seen as a cleaner fossil fuel.

But on Thursday, Delhi officials blamed light-duty CNG trucks, the kind used in courier services or urban deliveries, as one of the persistent drivers behind Delhi’s notorious air pollution  – announcing a major initiative to phase out 150,000 CNG light duty trucks, as well as diesel vehicles. The ban on registration of new light-duty CNG vehicles is due to begin in January 2027 in the city extending to suburban areas in July. The move to phase out the trucks follows a policy of swapping out CNG passenger buses for electric ones, underway already for several years. 

“We’re transitioning to total clean fuel,” said Tarun Pithode, Member Secretary of the Commission for Air Quality Management in a press conference – referring to the switch to electric vehicles, in particular.

While CNG fuel is lower in particulate matter, “oxides of nitrogen (NOx) from CNG are leading to a lot of pollution, especially secondary particulate matter. The haze happens when NOx and ozone mix,” Pithode explained. 

Even if they meet current Indian emission standards, (Bharat Stage 6 – roughly equivalent to a Euro 6 vehicle), CNG light duty trucks emit more than 57 times PM2.5, while BS 6 diesel light trucks emit approximately 130 times more, officials said.

Demand rises for Delhi-like airshed approach

While Delhi’s airshed officials are finally taking significant steps, the demand for a similar airshed approach is rising in other states. That was the main message at the 8th India Clean Air Summit in Bangalore this week. 

Speaking at the event, Neeraj Narayan, a top pollution control official from the eastern Indian state of Bihar said, “the airshed methodology must be accepted by all.” 

Only a few of the 131 cities that were part of the 2019 National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) have so far achieved the targeted reductions in air pollution, pointed out Narayan, Member Secretary of Bihar’s Pollution Control Board. 

The programme aimed for a 40% reduction in PM10 particulate concentrations by 2025-2026, and/or meeting the Indian air quality standard of 60 micrograms of PM10 for one cubic meter of air (60 µg/m³). That is something only 23 out of the original cities attained, according to a 2026 progress review by the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air.  And in fact, while data was tracked for 130 cities a larger pool of some 1,787 Indian cities persistently fail to attain Indian air quality standards, the CREA report stated.

“Do we have this much time?” he added. Bihar is one of India’s most polluted states.

Meanwhile, Dr Ratish Menon,  Narayan’s counterpart from Kerala, a coastal state considered an idyllic tourist destination, echoed his remarks. And much of the state’s air pollution comes from neighboring regions, he underlined. 

In the case of Kerala, “the larger chunk is sent from (neighbouring) Tamil Nadu,” Menon said, making the case for strategies to combat air pollution at the level of “airsheds” whose borders cross multiple states.

World Bank’s $750 million clean air initiative in India 

The call for an airshed approach was echoed by the World Bank representative, Sharlene Chichgar, at the conference. 

While the legal framework for the National Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has been strengthened, it needs to have “much more enforcement powers,” she said.

In July, the World Bank announced a major finance initiative of $150 million to support Delhi’s new clean air measures, which included a major air pollution initiative in April, followed by a new $1.5 billion policy to promote  EV three-wheelers, cars and buses in July.   See related story: 

Can Delhi’s $2.5 Billion Shift to Electric and Low-Emission Vehicles Transform India’s Capital to a ‘Pollution Free City’?

That followed World Bank finance initiatives late last year of $300 million each for Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, two highly polluted states that border the national capital region.  

The Uttar Pradesh programme will help 3.9 million households gain access to clean cooking and support a transition to clean transport by introducing 15,000 electric three-wheelers, and 500 electric buses in the cities of Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, and Gorakhpur. The project also will support Uttar Pradesh state government plans to provide incentives to replace 13,500 polluting heavy-duty freight vehicles with lower emitting vehicles. 

The Haryana project will invest in air quality and emission monitoring systems to  better assess critical pollution sources. The project will also support investments in electric buses and three wheelers in the cities of Gurugram, Sonipat, and Faridabad, with better transport connections and job access – especially for women. The project will also support new no-burn technologies to manage agriculture waste management, and productive reuse of paddy stubble. Smoke from burning crop waste in Haryana and other neighboring states regularly cloaks the Delhi region in haze in the late autumn.  

While progress is being made, Chichgar called for a “stronger horizontal and vertical coordination of government” across departments and agencies, and between cities, states and the central government. 

She also emphasized the “need to work on data transparency, a lot in terms of how we share data with citizens, and also have more public awareness and audits on what is done on pollution, how is performing, and where the government needs to work harder.

“We need a committed executive, which puts a vision forward over the next 15, 20 years on air quality management… and puts in place the financing framework,” Chichgar said.

Air pollution politics

Air pollution has increasingly become a featured topic of conversation amongst  political and policy commentators and on social media along with other challenges of governance. One such recent post, for instance, highlighted the lack of government accountability for chronic air pollution along with other recent scandals including medical school entrance exam leaks, urban flooding, and corruption. 

Another columnist writing during last year’s peak winter pollution season, demanded a political debate on the Air Quality Index (AQI). 

Delhi’s air quality lies in shambles: 36/38 monitoring stations have hit the ‘red zone,’ AQI is above 400 in key areas. The Hon. Supreme Court in its wisdom has prioritised the right to burn crackers over the right to live and breathe. Delhi remains among the world’s most…

— Amitabh Kant (@amitabhk87) October 21, 2025

Change is in the air  

So has anything changed despite India dominating the world air quality rankings of the most polluted cities for years? 

The hosts of Indian Clean Air Summit, are well placed to assess that. The first Summit, which attracts a high-level group of scientists, researchers, entrepreneurs, policy experts and government officials, took place in 2018 just before India’s first National Clean Air Programme was launched.

Over the last eight years there has been a shift from treating air pollution primarily as an environmental issue to recognising it as a cross-sectoral development challenge, says Jai Asundi, Executive Director at the Center for the Study of Science, Technology and Policy. And that, he sees, is progress.

The fact that it is increasingly clubbed together with other political challenges doesn’t mean air pollution is being politicised, he said. In fact, what has changed most noticeably is the quality of the conversation reflecting a much higher level of greater knowledge. 

“Air pollution appearing in mainstream public discourse is therefore not necessarily a case of politicisation — it can also indicate that the issue has moved from a purely environmental sector concern to a broader public-policy and development concern. The next challenge is to convert that awareness and better evidence into sustained, measurable reductions in exposure.”

Image Credits: Chetan Bhattacharji/HPW, CAQM – Commission for air quality management, Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air , Vidyut Mohan, Chetan Bhattacharji.