The onset of winter brings a blanket of haze over the northern India, along with a scare of life threatening diseases. Air pollution is one of the deadliest forms of pollution. With every cause and effect drilled into our minds, there still doesn't seem to be adequate actions being taken against the toxic air and the world is now touching  unfathomable levels of air pollution. The gamut of air pollution is spreading to the domains of the economy of India. Air Pollution has  profound detrimental effects bearing onto the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the countries; and a developing country such as India is no omission to it.

Indian economy is emerging as one of the fastest growing economy in the world. The government of India acknowledges their onus that more needs to be done to be able to assuage air pollution and also asserts that it's making approaches to reduce bad air. Despite the endeavours of the Indian government to curtail air pollution by introducing policies such as odd-even formula, restricting the industrial activities and banning waste burning, it is still far behind its neighbouring country China to pull off a uniform national effort to curb air pollution significantly. 

The foremost impact of air pollution on the economy is the loss of productivity. Tourism significantly reduces during seasons when a thick smog chokes north India, which not only lowers the revenue generated, but also raises unemployment in the tourism industry. Compensation to be paid to people who are unemployed due to health issues caused by air pollution escalates the burden on the economy. A study by World Bank (2016) disclosed that India lost more than 8.5% of its GDP in 2013 due to the cost of increased welfare and lost labour due to air pollution. At its current size of $2.6 trillion, the loss equals about $221 billion.[1] 

A major impact of air pollution is on the health of citizens. As the levels of air pollution proliferate, it sizably reduces the productivity of the workforce of a country. Air pollution in particular can lead to higher stress levels, breathing disorders and insomnia, which can directly impact the productivity of people exposed. The cost of serious health consequences of particulate pollution is estimated to be 3 % of India’s GDP.[2] 

Alleviating air pollution thus holds a colossal amount of potential in terms of economic development of India. A 10% reduction in PM10 can yield a benefit of USD 10-20 billion and 30% reduction can yield a benefit of as much as USD 47-105 billion for the Indian economy. The economic cost owing the high health expenditure and a falling productivity can be easily turned from a bane to a boon with the implementation of stringent penalties against air polluters and forming an alliance where the entire nation takes part in restraining outdoor as well as indoor air pollution in their own little ways. 

Sources: 

[1] https://weather.com/en-IN/india/pollution/news/2018-10-31-economic-impacts-of-pollution 

[2] https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/health-cost-of-air-pollution-in-india-assessed-at-3-per-cent-of-its-gdp-41699