The mortality impacts of current and planned coal-fired power plants in India.

We examine the health implications of electricity generation from the 2018 stock of coal-fired power plants in India, as well as the health impacts of the expansion in coal-fired generation capacity expected to occur by 2030. We estimate emissions of SO, NO, and particulate matter 2.5 μm (PM) for each plant and use a chemical transport model to estimate the impact of power plant emissions on ambient PM Concentration-response functions from the 2019 Global Burden of Disease (GBD) are used to project the impacts of changes in PM on mortality. Current plus planned plants will contribute, on average, 13% of ambient PM in India. This reflects large absolute contributions to PM in central India and parts of the Indo-Gangetic plain (up to 20 μg/m). In the south of India, coal-fired power plants account for 20-25% of ambient PM We estimate 112,000 deaths are attributable annually to current plus planned coal-fired power plants. Not building planned plants would avoid at least 844,000 premature deaths over the life of these plants. Imposing a tax on electricity that reflects these local health benefits would incentivize the adoption of renewable energy.