Policy Brief

Spatiotemporal variations of atmospheric black carbon concentrations in Kolkata and Howrah Municipal corporation areas

06 Oct 2025
| Dr Arindam Datta
| Mr Md Hafizur Rahman
| Mr R Suresh
| Mr Nimish Singh
| Mr Ved Prakash Sharma
| Ms Shivani Sharma
| Mr Prabhat Sharma
| Mr Justin Jacob

He West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB) invited The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), New Delhi, to submit a proposal to analyze the spatiotemporal variations in atmospheric BC in Kolkata and Howrah cities. Accordingly, TERI submitted a technical and financial proposalto WBPCB to prepare an annual spatiotemporal variation of atmospheric BC concentration over Kolkata and Howrah in March 2023. Following the review of the proposal by experts, WBPCB awarded the project to TERI on 10th May 2023 (Memo No. 1139/1K-1/2021). Under the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed (e-stamp Certificate No. lN-Dt_93620208110842U) between the WBPCB and TERI in May 2023.

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

23 Apr 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?

04 Nov 2020
| Dr Sumit Sharma
| Dr Isha Khanna

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

21 Feb 2020
| Mr Raghav Pachouri
| Mr A K Saxena

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

30 Jan 2020
| Dr Arindam Datta
| Dr N K Ram
| Mr Sunil Dhingra
| Mr Mrinal A. Emmanuel

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. It should also be noted that polluted air is the second highest health risk factor in India (Balakrishnan, Dey, Gupta, et al. 2019).

Fleet Modernization: A solution to achieve better air quality

10 Dec 2019
| Ms Shivani Sharma
| Dr Anju Goel
| Mr Souvik Bhattacharjya
| Ms Mani Juneja
| Mr Nitin Bajpai
| Dr Sumit Sharma

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. The total number of avoided mortality from attributable to PM5 reduction from fleet modernization between 2020 and 2040 is estimated to be more than 500,000.

Opportunities with Biofuel: Co-benefit of Air Quality Improvement

05 Dec 2019
| TERI
| Finnish Meteorological Institute, Finland
| Tampere University, Finland

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.

Position paper on Improving Inspection and Maintenance System for In-use Vehicles in India

03 Mar 2017
| Mr Jai Kishan Malik
| Dr Sumit Sharma
| Dr Arindam Datta
| Ms C Sita Lakshmi

The transport sector is an important contributor to pollution in cities. The sector accounts for a significant contribution in PM2.5 concentrations in most Indian cities. In Bengaluru, the sector accounts for almost 50% of PM2.5 concentrations.

Advancement of Fuel Quality and Vehicle Emissions Norms to Improve Urban Air Quality in India

14 Sep 2014
| Dr Sumit Sharma
| Dr Suresh Jain
| Dr Anju Goel
| Ms Richa Mahtta
| Dr Atul Kumar
| Dr Divya Datt
| Ms Seema Kundu
| Dr Prateek Sharma

The health impacts of the deteriorating ambient air quality in urban cities worldwide are of serious concern. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), one of the top ten causes of death is attributed to air pollution (WHO, 2010); diesel engine exhaust, for instance has been linked with increased lung cancer risk (WHO, 2012). Motor vehicles are one of the major sources contributing to air pollution at local, regional and global scale. India, which has the largest number of megacities in the world, is facing serious air quality problems in its urban areas. India's transport sector is the fastest growing consumer of energy.

Cooking with cleaner fuels in India: a strategic analysis and assessment

07 Dec 2010
| Ms Meena Sehgal

The series 'Cooking with cleaner fuels in India: a strategic analysis and assessment' is a collection of four policy briefs that carry findings emanating from a joint research by TERI and All India Institute of Medical Sciences (with support from UNICEF) on healthy cooking fuel options for India. The briefs trace the usage of different fuels in rural and urban households, health implications of using less cleaner cooking fuels, and stakeholder partnerships of governments, funding agencies, industry and consumer groups to accelerate adoption of cleaner cooking fuels.