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The simple economics of clean air

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Nobel laureate William Nordhaus’ ideas for India

William Nordhaus has won a share of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Economics for his contribution to climate economics. In this post, Dean Spears discusses Nordhaus’ work and its implications for India. He...

  • Perspectives

Understanding India’s energy and emissions future

India is an important player in global climate change mitigation, and it is crucial to understand its energy and emissions future. Projections for India’s 2030 CO2 emissions from energy range from 9...

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Temperature and human capital in India

A large proportion of the population in India has agrarian livelihoods that remain climate-exposed. The number of hot days per year in the country are expected to double by the end of this century. T...

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How much do households contribute to ambient air pollution in India?

Burning solid fuels like firewood in homes for cooking, heating, and other energy services is the single largest source of air pollution exposure in India. In this post, Chowdhury, Chafe, Pillarisetti...

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The ‘Right to Energy’ and carbon tax: A game changer in India

India's carbon emissions in 2014 were more than three times its level in 1990. While the emissions have increased sharply, their distribution across income groups is extremely skewed. The poor in Indi...

  • Perspectives

Compensatory afforestation funds: A means or an end?

India has one of the most ambitious targets for forest cover as part of its Nationally Determined Contributions to the Paris Agreement which will require considerable land and financial resources. In ...

  • Perspectives

Gone with the wind: Crop-burning and the human costs of pollution

Globally, an estimated 4 million people die prematurely because of air pollution every year. This article exploits seasonal changes in air quality arising due to agricultural fires – used by farmers...

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Rural electrification and structural transformation: A guar(anteed) bet?

Is large-scale electrification necessary for the structural transformation of rural economies? This article combines two natural experiments in India – an exogenous agricultural boom in the northwes...

  • Articles

Nobel laureate William Nordhaus’ ideas for India

William Nordhaus has won a share of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Economics for his contribution to climate economics. In this post, Dean Spears discusses Nordhaus’ work and its implications for India. He...

  • Perspectives

Understanding India’s energy and emissions future

India is an important player in global climate change mitigation, and it is crucial to understand its energy and emissions future. Projections for India’s 2030 CO2 emissions from energy range from 9...

  • Articles

Financing scale-up of rooftop solar power via municipal bonds

While India’s solar power generation capacity has increased dramatically in recent years, the rate of deployment of rooftop solar is still insufficient to achieve the national targets. In this post,...

  • Perspectives

Temperature and human capital in India

A large proportion of the population in India has agrarian livelihoods that remain climate-exposed. The number of hot days per year in the country are expected to double by the end of this century. T...

  • Articles

Clearing the air: The effects of transparency on plant pollution emissions

Of the 20 cities in the world with the worst fine particulate air pollution, 13 are in India. If good information on who pollutes is available, then traditional environmental regulation can bring down...

  • IGC Research on India

Adaptation to persistent drought and groundwater depletion: Evidence from Karnataka

By using a random sample of households from the 2004 KSNDMC study, this project conducts a comparative study of households’ coping capacity to two prolonged, 3-year droughts occurring a decade apart...

  • IGC Research on India

The simple economics of clean air

One of the main reasons why north-western India chokes on smog every November is the burning of residue from the rice crop by farmers. In this article, Somanathan and Gupta contend that public auctio...

  • Perspectives

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Society for Education, Action, Research and Commun

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Rajeswari Sengupta

Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research

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Harsh Vardhan

Bain and Company

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Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research

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Garima Dhir

Ernst and Young

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Indian Statistical Institute

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Editor-in-Chief, Ideas for India; University of Br

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Goldman Sachs

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Most Popular Environment Posts

Happy Seeder: A solution to agricultural fires in north India

It is believed that much of the pollution in Delhi in November every year originates in the neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana where farmers burn their fields to dispose of crop residue. This ...

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Ganga pollution cases: Impact on infant mortality

In response to a writ petition against pollution of the river Ganga due to industrial waste, the Supreme Court of India in 1987 mandated the tanneries in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh to either clean up or sh...

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Has environmental regulation been successful in India?

India has an impressive number of environmental regulations – but have they been a success? This column presents evidence that while initiatives such as catalytic converters for cars have reduced a...

  • Articles