As India struggles to breathe, here're 3 policy ideas to clean up toxic air

Market-based solutions instead of command-and-control regulation could allow economic growth to coexist with cleaner air

One out of every eight deaths in India in 2017 was caused by air pollution, according to a study. That’s almost twice as many deaths caused by cancer. This is a grim warning to India’s policymakers.

No longer just a middle-class inconvenience in the winter, air pollution has become a year-round health emergency across India. Delhi experienced only two ‘good’ air days over two years, between May 2015 and October 2017. Moreover, the WHO’s air quality database (as of 2018) showed that all 126 Indian cities exceeded the recommended guidelines for particulate emissions.