Evaluation of India’s National Clean Air Program Performance and Potential Health Benefits

India, which experiences some of the highest levels of ambient air pollution and associated premature mortality worldwide, launched the National Clean Air Program (NCAP) to reduce ambient PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations by 20–30% across 131 cities between 2017 and 2024, with a subsequent 40% target announced over an additional 2 year period. We present the first comprehensive evaluation of NCAP using high-resolution satellite-based PM2.5 and PM10 concentration fields together with surface measurements and apply the latest Global Burden of Disease (GBD) dose–response functions to estimate avoided premature mortality under the proposed reduction scenarios. Satellite-derived data show limited attainment of NCAP goals: 44 cities met the 20% PM2.5 target and one met the PM10 target; six cities achieved the 30% PM2.5 target and one met the 40% target. Average improvements were 12% (8.2 μg m–3) for PM2.5 and 4.9% (5.7 μg m–3) for PM10. Monitoring data indicate similarly modest progress: 7 of 29 cities met the 20% PM2.5 target and 43 of 96 met the PM10 target. Achieving a 40% PM2.5 reduction across NCAP cities would avert ∼36000 annual premature mortalities. Overall, despite modest progress in some NCAP cities, stronger interventions are necessary to achieve widespread air quality and health benefits nationwide.