Chandigarh, December 11 – In a major boost to Haryana’s environmental ambitions, the World Bank has approved a financial assistance package of USD 305 million for the Haryana Clean Air Project for Sustainable Development (HCAPSD), a flagship initiative aimed at transforming Haryana into a pollution-free state by 2030. The approved assistance includes an IBRD Loan of USD 300 million and a USD 5 million grant under the SA Regional Integration Multi-Donor Trust Fund.
Sharing the information here today, an official spokesperson said that the approval follows a high-level meeting held in Chandigarh in November last year between Haryana Chief Minister Sh. Nayab Singh Saini and World Bank representatives. During this meeting, the World Bank committed to extending a loan of Rs. 2,498 crore to support the rollout of the HCAPSD, which carries a total project cost of Rs. 3,646 crore. He added that the Haryana Government will contribute Rs. 1,065 crore, with an additional Rs. 83 crore allocated as a grant.
The HCAPSD is designed to bring measurable, statewide improvements in air quality through coordinated action across key sectors—including transport, industry, agriculture, urban management, and scientific monitoring. The project’s implementation will be led by the dedicated SPV, ARJUN (AI for Resilient Jobs, Urban Air Quality & Next-Gen Skills Council), ensuring seamless integration in planning, execution, and real-time monitoring. ARJUN is chaired by Sh Rajesh Khullar, CPS to CM Haryana who has served as the Executive Director in the Board of Directors of the World Bank as a representative of India, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka from 2020 to 2023.
The project will support the Haryana’s Action Plan aimed at reducing air pollution through a combination of multisectoral interventions. The project will invest in air quality and emission monitoring systems to strengthen the state’s ability to better gauge the impact of various sources of pollution.
Out of the total program cost of Rs 3,646 crore, Rs 1,688 crore has been earmarked for transport-sector interventions aimed at sharply reducing urban transport emissions and strengthening Haryana’s clean mobility ecosystem. Under this component, 500 electric buses will be deployed across Gurugram, Faridabad, Sonipat, and Jhajjar at an investment of Rs 1,513 crore. Additional initiatives include the phase-out of high-polluting vehicles and support for the scrapping ecosystem (Rs 10 crore), installation of 200 Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations (Rs 20 crore), incentives for electric three-wheelers (Rs 100 crore), and fleet replacement incentives to shift old three-wheelers to EVs (Rs 45 crore). These initiatives will be jointly implemented by Gurugram Metropolitan City Bus Limited, Haryana City Bus Service Limited, and the Departments of Transport and Industries.
A further Rs 563 crore will be spent by the Department of Industries and Commerce to drive cleaner industrial operations, real-time emission control, and improved compliance. This includes Rs 100 crore in incentives for switching industrial boilers to Piped Natural Gas (PNG), Rs 330 crore for promoting or replacing high-emission diesel generator (DG) sets with low-emission alternatives, and Rs 33 crore to support the installation of Continuous Emission Monitoring Systems (CEMS) across key industrial units.
Rs 746 crore will be spent through the Agriculture and Development & Panchayats Departments for agriculture-sector interventions and advanced soil management. This includes Rs 280 crore to achieve zero stubble burning by 2030 through equipment support and sustainable alternatives, Rs 52 crore for research on bio-decomposer technologies, Rs 151 crore for establishing a Secondary Emission Monitoring Centre in the Department of Agriculture, and Rs 263 crore for clean manure management systems aimed at significantly reducing emissions from cattle waste.
Similarly, Rs 564 crore will be spent by the Haryana Pollution Control Board (HPCB) to strengthen institutional capacity and build a robust scientific and regulatory backbone for targeted clean-air actions. Key components include Rs 107 crore for upgrading state air-quality laboratories along with 12 new mini-labs, Rs 73 crore for deploying 10 Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring (CAAQM) stations, Rs 28 crore for two mobile air-quality monitoring vans, Rs 6 crore for satellite-based monitoring integration, Rs 50 crore for a Decision Support System (DSS) to enable real-time, data-driven governance, and Rs 6 crore for developing a comprehensive state emission inventory.
Additionally, Rs 85 crore will be utilized under urban-sector interventions by the Urban Local Bodies, focusing on reducing urban dust pollution and enhancing sanitation, enforcement, and on-ground implementation capacity.
The spokesperson said that HCAPSD will drive systemic and sustained improvements in air quality by targeting emissions across transport, industry, agriculture, and urban sectors, while simultaneously strengthening long-term monitoring and planning capabilities. With this comprehensive approach, Haryana is poised to emerge as a national leader in clean air innovation and sustainable development, he added.
