The National Clean Air Programme has made significant financial outlays but struggles with effective fund utilisation at the sub-national level. Analyse the structural reasons for this gap and suggest reforms.

Launched in January 2019 by the MoEFCC, the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) now covers 131 non-attainment cities [2][3] and targets a 40% reduction in PM2.5/PM10 by 2026 over a 2017 baseline [4]. Yet of roughly ₹13,415 crore released, only about ₹10,003 crore has been spent [6] — the deficit lies in delivery, not allocation.

Evidence of the absorption gap

• The MoEFCC utilised only 67% of its budget in 2024-25, with the Control of Pollution scheme spending barely 2% of its allocation [5].
• Bengaluru had used just 13% of ₹541.1 crore by October 2024, rising to 76% only after the NGT's scrutiny [1].

Structural reasons

• Third-tier capacity deficit: Urban Local Bodies execute clean-air works but lack dedicated technical staff, air-quality expertise and project pipelines.
• Fragmented accountability: the Centre releases, State PCBs plan, and ULBs implement — diffusing responsibility across three tiers [1].
• Visible-spend bias: over 86% of Karnataka's utilised funds went to road dust control, against 6.6% on vehicular emissions and 4.1% on biomass burning [1] — easily tendered works crowd out harder structural fixes.
• Weak evidentiary base: State Action Plans framed without robust source-apportionment studies produce projects that cannot absorb funds meaningfully.
• Reactive oversight: compliance followed judicial direction, the NGT Southern Zone Bench having to direct five southern States and Puducherry [1].

Reforms

• Mandate source-apportionment studies as a precondition for SAP approval, with sectoral spending floors for transport and biomass.
• Create dedicated city clean-air cells with technical staffing and untied operational funds.
• Shift to airshed-level planning, since pollution ignores municipal boundaries.
• Publish real-time utilisation and outcome data on public dashboards to enable citizen audit.

Clean air financing has crossed the allocation threshold; the binding constraint is now institutional absorptive capacity. Strengthening the municipal tier, anchoring spending in science, and making outcomes publicly visible would convert outlays into breathable air — advancing both Article 21 and SDG 11.