New Delhi: India’s long-pending revision of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) may be announced soon, nearly 17 years after they were last updated in 2009. The development comes after Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur submitted its final technical report to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in December 2025 — almost a year after the project deadline.
According to a February 6 Right to Information (RTI) response obtained by environmental activist Amit Gupta, the National Air Quality Standards Project, commissioned by the CPCB, ran from December 21, 2021, to November 30, 2024. IIT Kanpur was assigned to prepare a comprehensive technical assessment to support a potential overhaul of India’s air quality framework.
While the institute submitted its first draft on October 6, 2023, the final report was delivered on December 16, 2025 — nearly a year after the contract expired. The CPCB allocated ₹19.5 lakh for the study, and the entire amount was utilised, the RTI reply stated.
Standards under scrutiny
The 2009 NAAQS set permissible limits for major pollutants, including particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), that are significantly higher than current global public health benchmarks.
For PM2.5, India’s standards allow:
- 60 µg/m³ as a 24-hour average
- 40 µg/m³ as an annual average
In contrast, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends much stricter limits:
- 15 µg/m³ (24-hour average)
- 5 µg/m³ (annual average)
Similarly, for PM10, India’s standards stand at 100 µg/m³ (24-hour) and 60 µg/m³ (annual), compared to WHO’s 45 µg/m³ (24-hour) and 15 µg/m³ (annual).
For nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), India’s limits are 80 µg/m³ (24-hour) and 40 µg/m³ (annual), while WHO prescribes 25 µg/m³ (24-hour) and 10 µg/m³ (annual). National norms are marginally stricter in designated sensitive areas for annual averages.
Call for stronger norms
Manoj Kumar of the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air said scientific evidence shows there is no safe threshold for PM2.5 exposure, as health risks persist even at very low concentrations.
“Progressively strengthening India’s NAAQS in line with WHO interim targets can yield significant public health gains,” he said. Kumar added that although revising the standards was identified as a priority under the National Clean Air Programme, it remains pending even after the programme’s extended timelines.
Neither CPCB nor IIT Kanpur has publicly commented on the proposed revisions.
Earlier reports had indicated that studies to review air quality norms were sanctioned in the mid-2020s, marking the first formal attempt to revisit the standards since 2009.
Gupta said updating the national air quality standards has been a longstanding demand of environmental groups and was also flagged by a parliamentary committee. “Even after four years, progress has been slow, and IIT Kanpur itself delayed the final report by nearly a year,” he said.
