Air pollution is a global health emergency, being the fourth deadliest cause of mortality, and it severely impacts all age groups, especially the young. The transportation sector is a significant contributor to air pollution in Indian cities and is the third highest emitting sector of greenhouse gases (GHGs).


In India, road transport contributes 90 percent (Kumar et al. 2022) to the total carbon emissions from the transport sector. Transport also contributes to nearly a third of the particulate matter (PM) 2.5 pollution in Indian cities (Nair 2021). In 2019, air pollution caused 1.2 million deaths in India, making it the fifth leading cause of death (Health Effects Institute. 2019. State of Global Air 2019). Concerted efforts to combat rising air pollution have become increasingly critical, necessitating innovative and impactful solutions. WRI India hosted a roundtable discussion on “Implementing Low Emission Zones for Cleaner Air in India” on August 7th, 2024, to discuss regulatory and technical challenges, learnings from early adopter cities, and strategies for scaling low emission zones (LEZs) in the Indian context.


India has committed to ambitious goals to combat air pollution and achieve net-zero emissions by 2070. To achieve this, some of the initiatives proposed by the government include the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), fuel standard evolution, and e-mobility promotion with central and state- level electric vehicles (EV) policies. In addition to these broader initiatives, focusing on urban hotspots and addressing specific sources of air pollution is
crucial. Local urban air quality can be improved through targeted measures to reduce vehicular emissions in highly polluted urban areas. In such areas, LEZs, also known as healthy air zones and clean air zones, can be introduced as an effective measure. LEZs restrict the movement of high-polluting vehicles or impose an emission fee for their entry. In addition to LEZs, more stringent categories, such as ultra-low emission zones (ULEZs) and zero
emission zones (ZEZs) have been adopted globally.

ULEZs impose stricter limits, allowing only low or zero-emission vehicles. ZEZs permit only those without tailpipe emissions, such as electric or fuel-cell vehicles, and promote non-motorized transport (NMT) and zero-emission public transport.