Reducing Air Pollution in Indore’s Industrial Sector

As part of the conclusion of the Clean Air Catalyst program in 2025, the WRI India team, including Ritesh Kumar, Lalit Sharma, Bhavay Sharma, Kajol, and Prakash Doraiswamy, prepared a set of recommendations to address the top air pollution sources identified through a multi-phase awareness process deployed in Indore, India, and other pilot cities. This Solution Strategy Paper describes the root causes of air pollution in Indore’s industrial sector and proposes a roadmap to implement actions to reduce polluting emissions.

According to an emission inventory conducted by WRI India, the industrial sector accounts for 11% of Indore’s particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution, primarily due to the type of fuels used in boilers. Coal, wood, furnace oil, piped natural gas (PNG), and agricultural residue are commonly used as fuels by manufacturers of plastic goods, pharmaceutical products, stainless steel kitchenware, milk processing, vegetable oil refineries, and other industries in Indore (MPPCB Indore, 2010, 2018).  

Key recommendations identified by the Clean Air Catalyst team include retrofitting furnaces with more efficient swirl burners, reducing boiler steam pressures, and transitioning from coal-based to electrified combustion.

The complete set of recommendations is linked here.