Mounting Economic Costs of India’s Killer Smog

AFP/APP

New Delhi: Noxious smog smothering the plains of north India is not only choking the lungs of residents and killing millions but also slowing the country’s economic growth.

India’s capital, New Delhi, frequently ranks among the world’s most polluted cities. Each winter, vehicle and factory emissions combine with farm fires from surrounding states to blanket the city in a dystopian haze.

This month’s acrid smog contains more than 50 times the World Health Organization’s recommended limit of fine particulate matter. These dangerous cancer-causing microparticles, known as PM2.5 pollutants, enter the bloodstream through the lungs.

Experts say India’s worsening air pollution is having a devastating impact on its economy, with one study estimating annual losses of $95 billion—roughly three percent of the country’s GDP.

The true extent of the economic toll could be even greater.

“The externality costs are huge, and you can’t assign a value to it,” said Vibhuti Garg of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.

Bhargav Krishna, from the Delhi-based research collective Sustainable Futures Collaborative, highlighted the cascading costs. 

“From missing a day at work to developing chronic illnesses, the associated health costs, premature death, and the impact on the family of the person—it all adds up,” Krishna told AFP.