India has directed INR 20,130 crore towards cleaner air in 130 cities since 2019. Yet of 69 cities with usable data, only 10 met their PM10 targets, and there is no statistically significant link between how much a city spent and how much its air improved. Whose Air is it Anyways? examines why: fragmented accountability, weak evidence and short-term spending. Drawing on field visits to nine cities and lessons from Beijing, Mexico City, Paris and London, the report sets out six pathways and recommendations for the Finance Commissions, environment institutions and urban local governments. Clean air, it argues, is a question of governance, not funding alone.
This document was compiled as a part of Janaagraha’s broader study, Air Quality in Indian Cities: An Assessment of Outcomes of XV Finance Commission Funding for Cities with Learnings and Recommendations.
