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The role of regulatory innovation in reversing India’s environmental degradation

In the Yale Environmental Performance Index, India ranked last out of 180 countries. Anant Sudarshan examines the broader economic and developmental costs of environmental degradation. Based on the li...

  • Perspectives

Economic dynamics of natural disasters: Evidence from the Kerala floods

To understand the economic impact of natural disasters, this article uses the 2018 floods in Kerala – a time when it received higher rainfall than the neighbouring states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu...

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Reducing information barriers to solar adoption: Experimental evidence from India

A large number of people lack access to reliable and high-quality electricity supply. Off-grid solar technologies can fill this gap, but adoption remains low. This article looks at the role of informa...

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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

Indoor air pollution and stunting among Indian children

While the conversation on air quality has been focussed largely on outdoor air pollution, millions of deaths occur due to indoor air pollution as well. Based on 2005–2006 National Family Health Surv...

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Why Asian cities should become focal points for climate change mitigation

In this article, Naini Jayaseelan, former Secretary, Environment, Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi, contends that mega cities in South and South-East Asia offer huge opportunities for...

  • Perspectives

Electrified transport: Countdown to 2030

The Government of India is aiming to have only electric vehicles operating in the country by 2030. Despite the various policy initiatives that are being undertaken to make progress towards this ambiti...

  • Perspectives

Are India's government-subsidised solar shops thriving or barely surviving?

Government of India’s Akshay Urja programme sought to support the establishment of at least one shop per district for the sale of subsidised solar-powered technologies. Based on a survey of shop own...

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Star power: Rating industries in Maharashtra by emission levels

Maharashtra Pollution Control Board recently launched a programme to rate industries based on their emission levels – the first such initiative by a government regulator. An easy and accessible way...

  • Perspectives

Off-grid solar power and the future of rural electrification in India

Off-grid solar power is a potential alternative to grid extension in rural electrification. This column reports results from a recent experiment with an off-grid lighting intervention in Uttar Pradesh...

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Meeting the renewable revolution: A roadmap for electricity market design in India

The Indian power system has transitioned over the last two decades from being solely government-owned, to one characterised by increasing private ownership of assets, independent regulation, and marke...

  • IGC Research on India

Sacrificing consumption to mitigate catastrophic risks

Many scientists agree that the probability of a rare environmental disaster increases as the stock of greenhouse gases accumulate in the atmosphere. This column asks how much consumption current gene...

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Indian Climate Early Warning System

This project involves the development of a spatially-disaggregated Indian Climate Early Warning System. For any given current weather realisation, the Early Warning System will produce maps that displ...

  • IGC Research on India

Clearing the air

In this article, Naini Jayaseelan, former Secretary, Environment, Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi, discusses the pitfalls of basing policies to curb air pollution on comparisons of a...

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Recent Contributors

Abhinav

Abhinav Narayanan

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

Gogol

Gogol Mitra Thakur

Centre for Development Studies

Anant

Anant Sudarshan

Energy Policy Institute at Chicago

Eyal

Eyal Frank

Harris School of Public Policy

Navroz K.

Navroz K. Dubash

Centre for Policy Research

Anirudh

Anirudh Sridhar

Centre for Policy Research

Ashwini K.

Ashwini K. Swain

Centre for Policy Research

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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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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 ai...

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Learnings from emissions trade in India

India, and many developing nations in other parts of the world take solace in the U-shaped Kuznets curve: a belief in this inverse relationship between income and environmental quality results in not ...

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