Lucknow. The state government under the leadership of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is continuously taking effective steps to make Uttar Pradesh a clean, healthy and economically more capable state. To deal with the growing challenge of air pollution, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will launch the Uttar Pradesh Clean Air Management Project (UP-CAMP) in January 2026. The governing body of this project will be chaired by the Chief Secretary, while Principal Secretaries and Additional Chief Secretaries will be its members.

UPCAMP project will be implemented with the help of World Bank

With the aim of dealing with the serious problem of air pollution, the Yogi government is implementing the UPCAMP project in collaboration with the World Bank. Recently, the second meeting of the Governing Body of UPCAMP Authority was held under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary, which was attended by senior officials of the concerned departments including the Department of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. The Chief Secretary directed that a timely progress report of all the works related to the implementation of the project should be presented in the next meeting.

The project got approval from the Center and the World Bank

Successful talks were held between the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), the World Bank and the Government of Uttar Pradesh on 3 November 2025 in New Delhi regarding the UPCAMP project. After this, on December 10, 2025, the Board of Directors of the World Bank gave formal approval to this project. The Governing Body was briefed on the project structure, financial arrangements and preparations for implementation through the UPCAMP Authority formed as a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV).

India's first airspace-based air quality project

UPCAMP is India's first airshed-based air quality management project. It has been designed as a multi-sectoral program keeping in mind the major sources of air pollution in the Indo-Gangetic plains. The project is based on scientific studies conducted by the World Bank in collaboration with IIT Kanpur, IIT Delhi and the Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU). It uses the GAINS model developed by IIASA of Austria.

Project worth 304.66 million dollars, will be implemented from 2025 to 2031

The total outlay of the UPCAMP project is US$ 304.66 million. In this-

• Loan of US$299.66 million (about 46,188 crore yen)
• Includes a grant of US$5 million

The project will be implemented in a phased manner over six years from 2025 to 2031. The project focuses on key sectors such as industry, transportation, agriculture, road dust, waste management and clean cooking.

Clean cooking and e-vehicles will provide relief from pollution

The main objective of the project is to strengthen airspace based air quality management and reduce emissions in different areas. According to this-

• 39 lakh families to be provided with clean cooking solutions
• 15,000 electric three-wheelers, 500 electric buses will be run in Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi and Gorakhpur.
• Incentives will be given for replacement of 13,500 polluting heavy vehicles

Use of modern technologies in agriculture and livestock sector

In the field of agriculture and livestock management-

• Promote nutrient use efficiency techniques
• Deploying nitrogen monitoring system in fields
• Strengthening the laboratories of State Agricultural Universities
• Livestock waste management will be improved by standardized use of manure-based fertilizers and biogas slurry.

Clean technology for industries and modernization of brick kilns

Under UPCAMP in industrial sector-

• Resource-efficient brick manufacturing
• Promotion of adoption of tunnel kilns
• Clean Air Management Plans for Industrial Clusters
• Policy and feasibility study will be conducted for transition from mini boiler to common boiler system.

Cooperation with states to tackle cross-border pollution

Uttar Pradesh government will increase cooperation with neighboring states to effectively reduce air pollution. This will enable control of cross-border emissions and achieve more effective results at lower costs.