A new Delhi pollution study is mapping emissions across the capital region to assess how the sources of air pollution may have changed since a major assessment in 2016. The project will use 2026 as its base year, with data analysis expected by mid-2027.

Key Takeaways

  • Researchers will map emissions using 500-metre-by-500-metre grid cells and verify sites on the ground.
  • The study will assess emissions and air-quality scenarios for 2030, 2035 and 2040.
  • The completed inventory is intended to update a system that tracks sources of Delhi’s winter PM2.5 pollution.

How the Delhi pollution study will work

The assessment covers January 1 to December 31, 2026. It uses a common framework for mapping and classifying emissions, addressing differences in the methods, geographical coverage and base years used in older studies.

Researchers will combine local activity data and emissions factors with spatial mapping, seasonal information and field checks. The inventory will cover pollutants including PM2.5, PM10, nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide and carbon monoxide.

The Automotive Research Association of India is leading the consortium with IIT Delhi, The Energy and Resources Institute and the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology. The Central Pollution Control Board is funding the project.

Planning and monitoring applications

SD Attri, a technical member of the Commission for Air Quality Management who heads the project review committee, said changes in vehicle technology, fuel standards, industrial practices and other activities may have altered emissions and their relative contributions. The study’s scenarios will assess different mitigation pathways; they are not yet results.

The new inventory is intended for integration into the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology’s Decision Support System, which tracks local and regional contributions to Delhi’s winter PM2.5 levels using a 2021 inventory.

A network of real-time monitoring super-sites is also being established. The New Rajendra Nagar site has opened, the Rouse Avenue site is set to be reactivated, and four more are planned in Greater Noida, Sonipat, Rohtak and Rewari.

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