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A recent Lancet report links 1.7 million Indian deaths in 2022 to fossil-fuel air pollution and climate extremes. As north India chokes again, the science challenges India’s long-standing claim that there’s “no conclusive data” on pollution-related deaths
Air pollution from burning coal, oil, and gas killed an estimated 1.7 million Indians in 2022, according to the 2025 Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change released last week — a 38% rise since 2010.
Fossil fuels alone were responsible for about 7.5 lakh of these deaths, with coal accounting for nearly four lakh, the report said. Globally, air pollution linked to fossil fuels caused 2.52 million deaths.
The findings come as Delhi and large parts of north India choke once again under a thick winter smog, with the city’s air quality index crossing 360 (“very poor” to “severe”) over the weekend. Levels of PM 2.5 in several localities were more than 20 times above the WHO’s safe limit, forcing schools to shut and restrictions to be re-imposed under the Graded Response Action Plan.
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