New Delhi [India]: Investments aimed at reducing India's PM2.5 pollution by 20% could create an economic opportunity worth US$220 billion by 2030, driven by productivity gains, emerging clean-air value chains and lower healthcare costs, IVCA Clean Air Forum 2026 Highlighted.
The transition could also support 1.4 million cumulative jobs and significantly reduce emissions, underscoring the need for greater capital flows into clean-air initiatives.
Air pollution is often viewed through the lens of public health and environmental degradation.
However, a new analysis presented at the IVCA Clean Air Forum 2026 argues that tackling air pollution could also unlock one of India's largest economic opportunities.
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Presenting findings on The Economics of Clean Air: Building the Business Case for India's Air Quality Management (AQM) Investment Opportunity, Jagjeet Sareen, Partner, India Head and Global Climate Practice Co-Lead, Dalberg Advisors, added that this economic opportunity will be equivalent to nearly 5.5% of India's GDP in 2025.
Commenting on the findings, Jagjeet Sareen said, “Poor air quality has long been framed as a public health and compliance issue. According to our analysis, cleaner air is both a public health benefit and an economic opportunity."
The analysis highlights that achieving this opportunity will require scaling investments across multiple sectors, including transport, agriculture, residential combustion, solid waste management, industry, construction, power generation and air quality monitoring. It further points to:
Significant productivity gains through lower absenteeism and improved workforce health;
Reduced healthcare expenditure and lower economic losses associated with premature mortality;
Creation of new markets and value chains across clean-air technologies;
Stronger investment opportunities in sectors such as transport and solid waste management, which emerge as key drivers of economic value creation; and
Environmental and social co-benefits through lower emissions and improved public health.
The presentation underscored that while air pollution currently imposes a substantial economic burden on India, investments in solutions across transport, agriculture, residential combustion, solid waste management, industrial emissions control, construction and road dust management, power generation, and air quality monitoring can simultaneously drive economic growth, improve public health, and generate environmental benefits.
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A key takeaway from the session was the need to move beyond viewing clean air solely as an environmental or compliance issue and instead recognise it as a strategic investment opportunity.
The analysis identified sectors such as transport and solid waste management among the largest contributors to the overall economic opportunity, highlighting the potential for greater capital deployment into scalable clean-air solutions.
The findings also pointed to the importance of enabling factors such as crowding in private capital, strengthening digital public infrastructure, piloting innovative technologies, building a skilled workforce, and encouraging community participation to accelerate the adoption of clean-air solutions at scale.
The presentation aligns closely with the broader objective of the IVCA Clean Air Forum 2026, which seeks to reposition clean air from an environmental challenge to an investment opportunity.
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At a time when air pollution claims more than 1.6 million lives annually in India, air-tech continues to remain one of the most underfunded segments within the climate investing ecosystem.
Through the Forum, IVCA has brought together institutional investors, deep-tech founders, policymakers and ecosystem stakeholders to explore how capital can support the development and scaling of practical, investable solutions to one of India's most pressing challenges.
Convened as a focused platform for dialogue and collaboration, the Forum aims to bridge the gap between air-tech innovation and the institutional capital required to scale it, while advancing the conversation on building a stronger market for air quality management solutions in India.
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