Our Bureau
New Delhi
The World Bank has approved financing for two critical programs in the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to help improve air quality.
The World Bank programme approved on December 10, 2025, will also aim to increase further the attractiveness of both states as business destinations and engines of job creation, it said in a statement on Thursday.
“Air pollution is causing severe health impacts, loss of productivity and reduced quality of life across South Asia,” said Paul Procee, Acting Country Director, World Bank India.
“These operations in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh represent the first airshed-based, multi-sectoral programs undertaken by state governments in India to tackle the complex challenge of reducing air pollution. The programs will also demonstrate how air quality initiatives can increase productivity and create green jobs, especially for youth and women.”
The Uttar Pradesh (UP) Clean Air Management Program (UPCAMP) (USD 299.66 million) will build on the Government of UP’s Clean Air Plan by investing in key sectors such as transport, agriculture and industry to improve air quality for its people.
The program will help 3.9 million households gain access to clean cooking. It will also encourage the use of clean transport by deploying 15,000 electric three-wheelers and 500 electric buses across the cities of Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, and Gorakhpur. The project will support the UP government’s plans to provide incentives to replace 13,500 polluting heavy-duty vehicles with lower-emitting vehicles.
“By adopting an airshed approach – rather than city-level solutions – Uttar Pradesh aims to reduce air pollution faster and at lower cost by collaborating with other states to control transboundary emissions,” said Ana Luisa Lima and Farah Zahir, the task team leaders of UPCAMP.
“Among its initiatives, the Program will incentivise farmers to adopt good practices to improve fertiliser use efficiency and manage livestock waste. It will also help MSMEs transition to cleaner technologies and promote e-mobility in urban centers.”
The Haryana Clean Air Project for Sustainable Development Operation (USD 300 million) will support the Government of Haryana’s Action Plan to reduce air pollution through a combination of multisectoral interventions.
The project will invest in air quality and emissions monitoring systems to strengthen the state’s ability to assess the impact of various pollution sources. The project will also support investments in clean transport, including electric bus services and electric three-wheelers in Gurugram, Sonipat, and Faridabad.
These, in turn, will offer seamless connectivity and access to more jobs – especially for women. The project will also support the state’s efforts to adopt cleaner technologies by MSMEs and to promote machinery and technologies for agricultural waste management and the productive reuse of paddy stubble.
“Recognising clean air as a top priority, Haryana has adopted a forward-looking approach by setting up ARJUN, a special purpose vehicle, to facilitate coordination, implementation and monitoring amongst relevant agencies,” said Sharlene Chichgar, Laghu Parashar, and Saumya Srivastava, task team leaders of the project.
“By targeting emissions in key sectors such as transport, agriculture, industry, and urban development, this program will also aim at mobilising over $127 million from private capital mobilisation.”
The two programs are part of the World Bank’s Regional Air Quality Management Program in the Indo-Gangetic Plains and Himalayan Foothills (IGP-HF), a global air pollution hotspot. The programs will also receive grants from the World Bank’s Resilient Asia Program — funded by the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation — and from the multi-donor Energy Sector Management Assessment Program.
The Uttar Pradesh program has a final maturity of 10 years, including a grace period of two years, and the Haryana program has a final maturity of 23.5 years, including a grace period of six years, the World Bank said in its statement today.
