Air pollution continues to be the biggest killer in India; confirmed a just released global report.
The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change, an international and multidisciplinary collaboration dedicated to monitoring the evolving health profile of climate change that works in close coordination to World Health Organisation (WHO), has released a global report at about 5.30 am on Wednesday that shows more than 1.7 million people had died in India during 2022 due to exposure from most toxic PM 2.5, the ultra-fine particulate pollutant. The pollutant can penetrate the deeper crevices of lungs and trigger a range of diseases. The figure shows a sharp increase compared to the values found twelve years back.
A senior union environment department official, while quizzed on the figure, recalled a recent tweet of the union environment ministry that rebutted a social media claim of around 2 million deaths linked to air pollution in the country. “The reported figure of 2 million deaths linked to air pollution … is not based on actual records but derived using statistical modelling techniques (that) had its own limitations…” read the tweet that was issued on October 26, 2025. The 2 million air pollution related death figure was flagged off in the State of Global Air 2025 report, another recent global report.
The Lancet report, a document prepared by130 scientists from more than 50 frontline global institutes, has also found that in 2024, the world faced “a record-high number of heat-wave days”; with more than 300 percent rise compared to two decades back.
“The report showed that 13 out of 20 indicators tracking health threats have reached unprecedented levels” said Mariana Romanello, an executive director of the Lancet Countdown and a lead author of the report, while releasing the report. The official said that the heat related deaths have surged by 23 percent. The trend is pronounced here as well with every Indian, on average, having faced nearly 20 days of heat waves during 2024; about one-third which could be attributed directly to climate change.
Thermal power plants, vehicles responsible
“There were over 1,718,000 deaths attributable to anthropogenic air pollution (PM 2.5) in 2022 in India, an increase of 38% since 2010” reads the report, a copy of which is with The Plurals. The report further pointed out that “…Fossil fuels (coal and liquid gas) contributed to 752,000 (44%) of these deaths in 2022, while coal accounted for 394,000 deaths, primarily from its use in power plants (298,000 deaths)” adding that “…use of petrol for road transportation contributed to 269,000”.
The report has found that burning of fossil fuels, particularly in thermal power plants and running of millions of vehicles in the country, played a key role in triggering the death march from air pollution. “India is one of the most highly affected countries in terms of air pollution” said a scientist associated with the report to this correspondent once the embargoed press conference got over.
“The number of air pollution linked deaths in 2022 was much more than the total number of COVID linked deaths in India; underlining the enormity of the situation and cost of human health linked to air pollution” observed Arup Haldar, a city based pulmonologist.
Outdoor air-linked deaths equal to nearly 10 percent of GDP
The report has also pointed out that “… In 2022, the monetised value of premature mortality due to outdoor air pollution in India amounted to USD 339.4 billion, the equivalent of 9.5 percent of gross domestic product”. Incidentally while the climate change linked threat is on the rise, India’s preparedness for the low-carbon transition got decreased marginally in 2024 compared to the year before.
The report shows that indoor air pollution also contributes significantly to the death scare from fossil fuel burning. “In 2022, household air pollution due to the use of polluting fuels in India was associated with 113 deaths per 100,000. Mortality rates associated with household air pollution were higher in rural than urban areas (125 per 100,000 in rural and 99 per 100,000 in urban)” added the report.
Heat waves on rise, affecting labour
In 2024, people in India were exposed to 19.8 heatwave days each, on average, of these, 6.6 days of exposure would not have been expected to occur without climate change; says the report.
“Compared to 1990-1999, in 2024, people were exposed on average to 366 more hours during which ambient heat would have posed a moderate or higher risk of heat stress if undertaking moderate outdoor physical activity” states the report adding that “for 2024, heat exposure resulted in a loss of 247 billion potential labour hours per year, a record high (of) 419 h per person, and 124% more than in 1990-1999”. The agriculture sector accounted for 66%, and the construction sector accounted for 20% of losses in 2024. The associated potential income lost from labour capacity reduction due to extreme heat was US$373 million in 2024.
Dengue on rise, sea level rise a threat
The report has also pointed out that the number of dengue cases in the country has almost doubled during the last decade compared to 6 decades earlier ; and during last year “over 18 million people were living less than 1 m above sea level in India, and therefore at risk from sea level rise”.