WB to Provide $600 mn to UP, Haryana to Improve Air Quality

The $299.66 million Uttar Pradesh (UP) Clean Air Management Program (UPCAMP) 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 programme will help 3.9 million households gain access to clean cooking. It will also encourage people to use clean transport by introducing 15,000 electric three-wheelers, and 500 electric-buses in 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.

The $300 million Haryana Clean Air Project for Sustainable Development Operation will support the Government of Haryana’s Action Plan aimed at reducing air pollution through a combination of multisectoral interventions. The project will invest in air quality and emission monitoring systems to strengthen the state’s ability to better gauge the impact of various sources of pollution. The project will also support investments in clean transport such as electric bus services and electric three wheelers in the cities of 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 for the adoption of cleaner technologies by MSMEs, and promotion of machinery and technologies for agriculture waste management, and productive reuse of paddy stubble.

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.