Dev 360 | Pollution No Side Issue, It Tests India’s Political Will

Fun fact: Gita Gopinath’s Davos statement that toxic air in India is reducing growth more than tariffs was not triggered by a groundbreaking discovery. The Harvard professor and former IMF chief economist repeated what has been said many times before. “If you look at the impact of pollution on the Indian economy, it is much more significant than the impact of any tax that has ever been imposed on India,” he said.

Many health experts, environmental activists at home and abroad, as well as international organizations such as the World Health Organization, the World Bank, and global consulting firm Dalberg, have long emphasized this basic truth: Health crises not only lead to a sick population, but also carry devastating economic costs. Every winter, this resident of New Delhi, like many others in the city, wakes up to a crispy weather, feeling miserable from not being able to walk or run for weeks and seeing young children with nebulizers. Not just Delhi. Anyone who has experienced India knows this without even reading any reports. This is our reality.

The 2019 Global Burden of Disease study on the health and economic impacts of air pollution in India, published in The Lancet Planetary Health (2021), details state-level impacts, showing that pollution-related diseases cost lives and billions of dollars in lost productivity and health in India. The collaborative study, which is a joint effort of researchers at institutions such as the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) and the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), noted: “Air pollution is a significant cause of premature death and disease and the largest environmental health threat globally. Besides endangering health and shortening life spans, air pollution also negatively impacts economic productivity.”

“The economic loss from lost production due to premature deaths and diseases attributable to air pollution in India is high, equivalent to 1.36% of India’s GDP in 2019,” the report said. It was noted that another source of economic loss is the health care cost of treating diseases attributable to air pollution. “Based on National Health Accounts data, we estimated the total healthcare cost in India to be $103.7 billion in 2019. Since air pollution was responsible for 11.5% of the disease burden (measured in DALYs) in India in 2019, a rough estimate of the healthcare cost of air pollution-related diseases would be $11.9 billion (or 0.44% of India’s GDP),” the authors said. DALY stands for disability-adjusted life year. One DALY represents the loss of the equivalent of one year of full health.

It is not just academics and NGOs who underline these basic facts. Dalberg Advisers, in partnership with the Clean Air Fund and the Confederation of Indian Industry, stated that air pollution costs Indian businesses nearly $95 billion annually in 2021; This is about 3% of GDP, equal to half of all taxes collected, or 150% of India’s health budget.

So why is Ms. Gopinath the subject of a lot of news in India even though she doesn’t say anything new? First, because this was the World Economic Forum in Davos, where the global elite were meeting. Many Indians framed his comment as a swipe at India. His comments dovetail with India’s winter pollution crises (Delhi-NCR smog), making his statements timely and relatable. Clips can be uploaded to YouTube, Instagram, X etc. They went viral across platforms and television channels analyzed or discussed them. In India’s hyper-polarized environment, the tariff pollution comparison has fueled partisan spin; supporters saw data-driven urgency; critics saw it as elitist or anti-India.

This brings me to the urgent need to flag the elephant in the room. Is polluted air only a problem when it is discussed in Davos and framed as a killer of economic growth, not when it is the main topic of local headlines and our lives? How long does it take to normalize polluted air, streets and water when its connection with death and disease is obvious? Is Ms. Gopinath being humiliated for raising the issue at a meeting of global business elites?

Let’s face it. Global investors are not stupid. They know very well the toxic air in India, especially during certain months of the year. This is not an old story. It is now.

The uproar over Gita Gopinath’s remarks came as she openly stated at Davos 2026 that pollution is a bigger economic threat to India than tariffs, challenging the dominant political narrative that focuses more on trade wars and external pressures.

The truth is that health problems are rarely just about health; They are windows to politics, economy and social priorities. India’s pollution crisis (air, water, garbage) has become a prism through which political and economic priorities are evaluated. It reduces productivity, increases healthcare costs, discourages investment and even undermines India’s bid to become a sports hub, with international athletes withdrawing from tournaments due to hazardous weather. This is the absolute truth. Part of the package comes with applause for economic growth.

The big picture is clear: Air pollution reflects energy policy, transportation planning and industrial regulations. Water pollution reveals infrastructure investment and governance capacity. Garbage management reveals whether waste is considered a liability or a resource.

India is not the only country struggling with pollution. There was a time when Beijing and Delhi competed over toxic air. The 2007 World Bank report, The Cost of Pollution in China: Economic Estimates of Physical Damages, documented how rapid growth and industrialization came with huge hidden costs: crop damage, property damage, and major health impacts from air and water pollution. The report, which was a joint study by a team of Chinese and international experts under contract with the World Bank, noted: “Although technological change, urbanization and China’s high savings rate show that sustained rapid growth is possible, the resources required by such growth and the environmental pressures it brings have raised serious concerns about long-term sustainability and the hidden costs of growth. Many of these concerns are related to the effects of air and water pollution.”

China woke up. There is no need for India to copy China, but India can learn from China’s experience. Beijing has significantly cleaned its air.

However, while the government must address pollution as an urgent national priority, it is equally clear that citizens and communities also have a role to play. Every little action matters; do not litter, avoid using vehicles that pollute the environment, request and use public transportation.

Bottom line: Pollution in India is not a side issue; It is a hidden tax on growth and a test of political will. At stake is our collective future.