Where India's Air Quality Data Ends: New Nationwide Study
Newsletter #14 | May 1, 2026
Air quality data is only useful when people can actually see it. This month, we're sharing the findings of our latest nationwide study on exactly that question — how evenly, and how reliably, is real-time air quality information available to people across India?
The report, Air Quality Data Accessibility in India: Distribution, Gaps, and Network Correlations, looks at all three of India's main monitoring systems — the manual National Air Monitoring Programme (NAMP), the Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring network (CAAQM), and SAFAR — using official CPCB and IITM data up to 2025. The picture that emerges is one of remarkable progress and persistent gaps existing side by side.
What the study found: a dual reality
India has built one of the largest air quality monitoring networks in the Global South. As of 2025, the national system includes 966 NAMP stations (manual), 562 CAAQM stations (continuous, real-time), and 42 SAFAR sites. Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal each host more than 100 active stations across all programmes. Major metros — Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata — enjoy dense coverage and reliable real-time access.
Beyond those hubs, the picture changes. Looking at how monitoring is distributed across states, districts, cities, and population size, the headline findings are:
Around 40% of India's districts have no government-operated monitoring station
One in ten urban agglomerations with more than 300,000 residents lacks any government monitor
Ladakh has no monitoring of any kind; Lakshadweep, Goa, and Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu have no continuous real-time monitoring
Monitoring density correlates only moderately with PM2.5 pollution levels — meaning some of the most polluted areas are still under-instrumented, while some cleaner regions are comparatively well covered
Coverage is only half the story
A station exists on a map only when it's reporting data. That turns out to be the second gap the study identified.
Of India's continuous monitoring stations, roughly half provide consistently stable data over the course of a year. Another 20% operate at acceptable levels, running 75–90% of the time. The rest experience long outages, frequent short interruptions, or incomplete transmission — meaning their data is present in theory but hard to use in practice for health alerts or policy decisions.
Not all states are equal in this regard. Rajasthan stands out as the most operationally stable network in the country — nearly all of its 46 CAAQM stations ran continuously throughout the year, with only minimal interruptions. This level of consistency has been maintained since at least 2021, making Rajasthan a practical benchmark for what reliable state-level monitoring can look like.
Progress is real. Data availability improves year by year. But the inconsistency of station performance remains a meaningful constraint on what the system as a whole can do.
Vitalii Matiunin CEO at Airvoice
"India has made monumental strides in building its monitoring infrastructure, establishing itself as a leader in the Global South. However, our study reveals that physical stations are only one part of the equation. We see a critical gap: automated monitoring remains unavailable in several states, and even where infrastructure exists, significant data is lost due to technical downtime. While expanding the network remains important, we must now equally focus on ensuring data stability and developing actionable services. Only then can this data empower citizens with forecasting and support authorities in making evidence-based urban planning decisions."
Short on time? We've also prepared an AI-generated audio summary of the study — a compact podcast-style overview that covers the key findings in about 5 minutes.
We run studies like this one regularly, and we do it for a specific reason. It's not enough to say that the air is bad. What helps people, buildings, and cities make better decisions is detail — the underlying structure of the problem, the data behind it, the places where information is missing. That's why we invest in research that goes beyond the headline and into the specifics.
Which is also why we're glad when this kind of work reaches a wide audience. The study has been covered by Press Trust of India (PTI), CNBC, ThePrint, The New Indian Express, The Tribune, MSN, and several other outlets — reaching millions of readers. We're grateful to the journalists and editors who helped bring the findings into the public conversation. Awareness is the first step, and wider access to this kind of information is ultimately what will help drive cleaner air.
Always here to help you breathe better air,
Your Airvoice Team
We design software and hardware solutions for monitoring and managing air quality in buildings, industries, and cities, and partner with leading universities worldwide on cutting-edge research. To learn more about our solutions or explore collaboration opportunities, please get in touch.