Delhi offers ₹50 lakh prize for innovations to curb pollution

Delhi government offers cash rewards up to ₹50 lakh for innovative solutions to reduce air pollution, focusing on PM 2.5 and PM 10 emissions.

The government has announced cash rewards of up to ₹50 lakh for researchers, innovators and universities for bringing ideas aimed at solutions to curb air pollution in the Capital.

The AQI on Friday deteriorated to 170 (moderate) from 100 on Thursday. (RAJ K RAJ /HT PHOTO)

Delhi environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa, on Friday, launched an “Innovation Challenge for Pollution Reduction Solutions”, inviting path-breaking ideas aimed at reducing particulate matter emissions.

According to the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), the goal of the challenge is to identify and support low-cost, easy-to-maintain, scalable and effective technological solutions for Delhi in two areas, focusing on reducing, absorbing or capturing PM 2.5 and PM 10 from BS-4 or below vehicles or from the ambient air.

DPCC is leading the programme, which invites individuals, start-ups registered with DPIIT (Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade), research institutions, technology developers, universities and colleges to take part in the challenge.

Applications for the challenge have opened and will close on October 31.

“This year, Delhi has seen the highest number of clean-air days in the last decade—but our ambition is bigger: we want every day to be a clean-air day. Enforcement alone won’t get us there; this is a 24x7 innovation mission,” Sirsa said.

The selection process will involve three stages: a preliminary scrutiny by the DPCC, followed by a technical review, and field trials by an independent committee.

All proposals shortlisted at the end of the second stage will be given a cash reward of ₹5 lakh, as per a government press release.

The final stage will be validation by the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) or equivalent bodies. Projects recommended to the Delhi government after final testing will receive ₹ 50 lakh each.

Speaking on the criteria, the minister 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.”

Bring road coatings that trap tire dust, tailpipe capture devices, rooftop air flow tunnels for moving traffic, advanced construction dust controls, or industrial PM solutions, he explained.