SIE’s National Blueprint for Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) in India sets out a single, integrated roadmap to reduce indoor air pollution across homes, schools, workplaces, health facilities and public buildings — and to make clean, healthy indoor air a national public-health priority. Released in December 2025, the Blueprint has been presented internationally and is now being referenced in the global framework for action on healthy indoor air — carrying SIE’s work in India to a worldwide audience.

Presented to a global audience. The Blueprint was presented over a three-day online session convened by the Global Commission on Healthy Indoor Air, before participants from more than 100 countries. It drew appreciation and questions from delegates across Brazil, Denmark, Australia, the United States and others, and is now being cited in the Commission’s global framework for action — a significant milestone for indoor-air research led from India.

About the Blueprint

The Society for Indoor Environment (SIE) was founded in 2017 by researchers, academicians, doctors and other experts to advance the science and practice of safe, healthy indoor environments. Indians spend more than 90% of their time indoors, yet a cohesive national policy on indoor air has been missing. This Blueprint is SIE’s response: an evidence-driven plan to guide policy, innovation, and community action.
Vision
Significantly reduce population exposure to harmful indoor pollutants — including PM2.5, CO, formaldehyde, bioaerosols, and pollutants from cooking fuels — by 2040, with rapid improvements by 2030.
Core goals
  • Protect public health, especially vulnerable groups (women, children, the elderly, and low-income households).
  • Ensure clean, safe indoor environments across all climatic zones and building types.
  • Integrate IAQ into national health, housing, energy and urban-development programmes.
  • Build a knowledge bank for new construction and for retrofitting older buildings with safer indoor-air design.

What the Blueprint covers

Priority challenges it addresses Reliance on biomass and kerosene for cooking in some rural and low-income homes; outdoor pollution infiltrating indoor spaces; poor ventilation and overcrowding; emissions from consumer products and building materials; the absence of indoor-air monitoring protocols and standards; and limited public awareness.

Eight areas of action

Policy & regulatory framework

A National IAQ Policy, guideline values for key pollutants, and IAQ requirements in building codes and health/school standards.

Clean cooking & household energy

Accelerating reliable, affordable LPG access and better-ventilated kitchens.

Ventilation & building design

Practical ventilation guidelines, minimum provisions in new public buildings, and retrofits for schools, Anganwadis and low-income housing.

Monitoring, data & research

A National IAQ Monitoring Programme, baseline exposure surveys, and funded research on sources and health impacts.

Public awareness & community engagement

Multilingual campaigns and outreach through ASHA and Anganwadi workers, plus IAQ in school curricula.

Workforce training & capacity building

IAQ modules in professional education, certification for auditors and building operators, and a proposed India Indoor Air Research Center (IIARC).

Financing & resource mobilisation

An India IAQ Fund, corporate participation, and climate finance for retrofits and monitoring.

Industry engagement & market development

labelling for low-emission materials, domestic manufacturing of IAQ technologies, and green public procurement.

Read the full documents

National Blueprint for Indoor Air Quality in India

Blueprint
Presentation

Authors

Prof. Mukesh Khare

Patron & Founding Vice-President, SIE; Commissioner, Global Commission on Healthy Indoor Air (IWBI, USA); Former Professor, IIT Delhi

Dr. Sachin Dhawan

Senior Research Scholar, IIT Delhi and SIE Member. Foreword: Dr. Rakesh Kumar, President, SIE. Published by the Society for Indoor Environment (SIE), Delhi, India — December 2025.