World Bank Clears $600 Million for Uttar Pradesh and Haryana Clean Air Programs

Key facts

• The World Bank has approved $599.66 million in financing for two major clean air programs in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.
• These initiatives aim to improve air quality, reduce health impacts, and strengthen both states as attractive business destinations.
• The programs will invest in clean cooking, electric mobility, and cleaner industrial practices.
• Paul Procee, Acting Country Director, World Bank India, stated that 'Air pollution is causing severe health impacts, loss of productivity and reduced quality of life across South Asia.'
• The operations mark the first airshed-based, multi-sectoral programs taken up by Indian state governments to address air pollution.
• The Uttar Pradesh Clean Air Management Program (UPCAMP), backed by $299.66 million, will expand the state’s Clean Air Plan with investments across transport, agriculture and industry.
• UPCAMP aims to provide clean cooking access to 3.9 million households and promote clean mobility by deploying 15,000 electric three-wheelers and 500 electric buses in Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi and Gorakhpur.
• Haryana’s Clean Air Project for Sustainable Development Operation, supported by $300 million, will invest in air quality and emissions monitoring and expand clean transport options such as electric buses and electric three-wheelers in Gurugram, Sonipat and Faridabad.
• In November, Haryana slipped into the red zone of India’s air quality map, with no district meeting the national annual PM2.5 standard.
• The Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) has identified Haryana as a significant pollution hotspot in the Indo-Gangetic Plain.
• Gurugram is among seven districts in Haryana that rank within India’s 50 most polluted, with PM2.5 levels at least twice—and in some cases nearly three times—above the annual national safety limit.
• Both state programs form part of the World Bank's Regional Air Quality Management Program in the Indo-Gangetic Plains and Himalayan Foothills.