Pollution costs Indian businesses $95bn a year

  • Date: 22-Apr-2021
  • Source: Kuwait Times
  • Sector:Economy
  • Country:Kuwait
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Pollution costs Indian businesses $95bn a year

PARIS: Toxic air that chokes Indian cities and kills hundreds of thousands of people also carries a grim economic burden for the country's companies of around $95 billion a year, according to researchers who urged firms to lead the drive against pollution. Air pollution shortens lives worldwide by nearly three years on average, and causes millions of premature deaths annually.

India is one of the worst affected countries, with many regions often cloaked in a smog of hazardous particles. The Lancet's Global Burden of Disease study estimated pollution caused some 1.7 million premature deaths in India in 2019 - nearly 18 percent of all deaths in the country. Building on this, a new analysis by consultancy firm Dalberg Advisors found that pollution-related absenteeism, productivity loss, reduced consumer and tourist spending all add up to cost Indian businesses $95 billion a year, roughly three percent of the country's gross domestic product.

"Clean air is a precondition for businesses to thrive,“ said Dalberg Asia Director Gaurav Gupta. "Industry leaders should take more ownership and become advocates in the movement for cleaner air.“ Lost working years from the hundreds of thousands of premature deaths were estimated to cost the Indian economy $44 billion in 2019,