NEW DELHI: The Delhi government has announced cash rewards of up to Rs 50 lakh for innovators and researchers who develop effective and scalable solutions to curb air pollution in the city.
The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), which is spearheading the programme, has invited proposals from innovators, technology developers, R&D Institutions, universities, and registered entities across India.
Environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa on Friday said that this year Delhi has seen the highest number of clean-air days in the last decade—but our ambition is bigge, "We want every day to be a clean-air day."
“Enforcement alone won’t get us there; this is a 24x7 innovation mission. This is the first time Delhi is opening its doors so widely to innovation—from individuals, start-ups, research institutions, or large technology developers—bring us what works on the road, construction, and industrial sites. If a solution can cut PM2.5/PM10 substantially, install easily, and keep costs down, we will back it,” he said.
Calling out transparent criteria, he noted, “Evaluation will reward what matters in the real world - how much pollution you actually cut, how affordable your device is, whether it adapts to Delhi’s climate, how fast it installs, and how reliably it can be monitored. If a solution is flashy but unaffordable, it won’t rank. The most cost‑effective, high‑impact innovations will score the highest.”
Detailing the stages from trial to adoption, Sirsa said, “Shortlisted teams will get free trials and Rs 5 lakh support after stage‑2. Solutions that pass IIT and national‑lab validation and meet our deployment needs will get Rs 50 lakh and a clear route to government‑scale implementation.”
He added, “Bring road coatings that trap tyre dust, tailpipe capture devices, rooftop airflow tunnels for moving traffic, advanced construction‑dust controls, or industrial PM solutions if it’s effective”.