•321• The Effect of the Underutilization of Funds by Non-Attainment Cities in India’s National Clean Air Programme † Owen Cheung* and Semee Yoon** ABSTRACT : This paper analyzes the air pollution reduction effect of the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) launched by the government of India in 2019. In particular, we look at the impact of fund utilization for “non-attainment” cities on air quality improvements in 82 NCAP cities from 2019 to 2023. Using fixed-effects panel regression models, we analyze the relationship between changes in particulate matter (PM 10 ) levels and various predictors, including the lagged use rate of allocated funds. We find that higher utilization rates of allocated funds in the previous year are associated with reductions in PM 10 levels, with the effect being statistically significant at the 10% level. Specifically, a one-percentage increase in the lagged use rate correlates with a 0.100-unit decrease in PM 10 levels, highlighting the delayed but meaningful impact of effective fund utilization on air quality. These findings underscore the importance of addressing the underutilization of funds to maximize the effectiveness of the NCAP and provide insights on future research directions and policy implications. Keywords : Air pollution, Pollution policy, India JEL Classifications : Q53, Q56, Q58 자원 ․ 환경경제연구 제34권 제3호 Environmental and Resource Economics Review Volume 34, Number 3, September 2025: pp. 321~348 DOI: https://doi.org/10.15266/KEREA.2025.34.3.321 Received: November 30, 2024. Revised: May 29, 2025. Accepted: July 10, 2025. † This work was supported by the Global Korea Scholarship Program funded by the Ministry of Education. *M.A. in International Studies (International Development), Graduate School of International Studies, Seoul National University, First author (e-mail: jungjinho@snu.ac.kr) **Assistant Professor of Sustainable Development, Graduate School of International Studies, Seoul National University, Corresponding author (e-mail: semee@snu.ac.kr)•322• 인도 국가청정대기프로그램의 영향 분석: 비성취 도시의 예산활용의 역할에 관하여 † 정진호 * ‧윤세미 ** 본 논문은 인도 정부의 국가청정대기프로그램(NCAP)이 대기질 개선에 미친 영향을 분석 한다. 인도 정부는 대기질 기준을 충족하지 못하는 ‘비성취’ 도시에 대한 목표 자금 지원한 바 있 어, 각 도시별 예산 활용도를 주요 설명변수로 살펴본다. 이 연구는 2019년부터 2023년까지 82개 NCAP 도시의 대기질 개선 효과 분석을 위해 고정효과 패널 회귀 모델을 사용하여 미세먼지 (PM 10 ) 농도의 변화와 할당된 예산의 1년 시차(lag) 간의 관계를 분석한다. 그 결과, 전년도에 할당 된 예산의 사용률이 높을수록 PM 10 수치 감소와 연관되어 있으며, 그 효과는 10% 유의수준에서 통계적으로 유의하다. 특히, 사용률이 1% 증가하면 PM 10 수치가 0.100 단위 감소하는 것으로 나타 나 효과적인 예산 활용이 대기질에 미치는 영향이 상당한 것으로 나타났다. 이러한 연구 결과는 NCAP의 효과를 극대화하기 위해 예산 활용률 저조 문제를 해결하는 것이 중요함을 지적하며 향 후 연구에서 고려할 요인들을 제기한다. 대기오염, 대기오염 저감 정책, 인도 접수일(2024년 11월 30일), 수정일(2025년 5월 29일), 게재확정일(2025년 7월 10일) † 이 연구는 교육부 정부초청외국인장학생 프로그램의 지원을 받아 수행된 연구이다. *서울대 국제대학원 석사과정학생, 제1저자(e-mail: jungjinho@snu.ac.kr) **서울대 국제대학원 조교수, 교신저자(e-mail: semee@snu.ac.kr)The Effect of the Underutilization of Funds by Non-Attainment Cities in India’s National Clean Air Programme •323• Ⅰ. Introduction Air pollution leads to several serious negative externalities related to health and economic growth. Poor air quality causes ischemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lower respiratory infections, and trachea, bronchus, and lung cancer; all of which lead to premature deaths (Ravindra et al., 2015). The effect of air pollution is not only on mortality, but also on morbidity. The Lancet’s Global Burden of Disease study estimated that air pollution from both outdoor and indoor sources led to 236 million Disability-Adjusted Life Year, DALYs, in 2021 (IHME, 2024). This increased disease burden can be understood in economic terms; the global health cost of the concentration of particulate matter (PM) less than 2.5 micrometers (PM 2.5 ) in 2019 was $8.1 trillion dollars, which was equal to 6.1% of that year’s global gross domestic product (World Bank, 2022). This also creates financial burden on the individual, as well as at the govern- ment level in countries where healthcare expenditure is socialized. Consequently, health systems need to adapt to increased incidence of air pollution-related diseases. In a country like India with an extremely high population level, air pollution-induced burden on the health system requires capacity-building efforts on a large scale. When these countries already face the burden of poverty-related diseases, additional burden is unwelcome. Furthermore, air pollution is negatively associated with worker productivity—an unfortunate sign for developing countries with poor air quality (Neidell and Pestel, 2023). This means that the negative externalities of poor air quality are widespread throughout society, whether it be lost economic productivity or the tragedy of human life lost. To understand this challenge of air pollution in more detail, we study the impact of a government-led pollution control initiative, the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) introduced in India. As the most populous country in the world and one of the fastest growing, India faces significant growing pains in the form of severe air pollution (World Bank, 2023). This issue is particularly severe in India’s densely populated cities, of which there are many. In the fiscal year of 2022-2023, India’s real GDP grew by 6.9 percent; at Next >