A FICCI-EY report cited by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has estimated that around 2 million deaths, or about 22% of all deaths in India, were attributable to air pollution in 2023, as Delhi’s air quality deteriorated sharply after Diwali.
Ramesh, Congress general secretary in-charge of communications and a former environment minister, accused the Union government of being in “denial” about the impact of air pollution on mortality. He called for tighter standards for PM2.5 and ozone, a revised National Clean Air Programme and a new Clean Air Act focused on public health.
The estimate was cited from a detailed FICCI-EY report, which Ramesh said presents a phased, 10-year roadmap for national action. He said previous studies had been rejected by the government in Parliament and elsewhere on the grounds that they were not India-specific or that the health impacts could not be directly and uniquely attributed to air pollution.
“Now comes a detailed FICCI-EY report that says categorically that around 2 million deaths (about 22% of total) were attributable to air pollution in India in 2023,” Ramesh said in a post on X. He described the finding as a further wake-up call for the government and said that “ease of breathing” was more fundamental than ease of doing business.
The political response came as a thick grey haze covered Delhi a day after Diwali. The city’s Air Quality Index reached 370, placing it in the “very poor” range and close to the Central Pollution Control Board’s “severe” category, which begins at 401. Visibility was reduced across the capital.
Monitoring stations at DTU and Burari Crossing recorded an AQI of 437 each, according to the report. Several other locations, including Bawana, Burari, Jahangirpuri, Sonia Vihar, Punjabi Bagh, Okhla and Rohini, also recorded air quality in the severe category. Four additional stations reported “poor” air quality, while the remaining stations were in the very poor range.
The CPCB classifies AQI levels from 0 to 50 as good, 51 to 100 as satisfactory, 101 to 200 as moderate, 201 to 300 as poor, 301 to 400 as very poor and 401 to 500 as severe. These categories provide a standardised measure of pollution intensity but do not by themselves establish the number of deaths attributable to a particular pollution episode.
Ramesh said PM2.5 had become a major health threat across many parts of India and urged the government to align existing PM2.5 and ozone standards with World Health Organisation recommendations. He also called for the National Clean Air Programme to focus more directly on these pollutants.
The Congress leader further proposed replacing the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, with a new Clean Air Act. He said the proposed legislation should reflect newer evidence about pollution sources and their public-health effects.
The Air Quality Early Warning System indicated that Delhi’s air quality was likely to slip into the severe category during the day and remain there for the following few days. The immediate deterioration placed renewed attention on the city’s monitoring network, pollution-control measures and the enforcement of existing standards.
