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 SO₂, NO_X, and particulate matter 2.5 μm (PM_2.5) for each plant and use a chemical transport model to estimate the impact of power plant emissions on ambient PM_2.5. Concentration-response functions from the 2019 Global Burden of Disease (GBD) are used to project the impacts of changes in PM_2.5 on mortality. Current plus planned plants will contribute, on average, 13% of ambient PM_2.5 in India. This reflects large absolute contributions to PM_2.5 in central India and parts of the Indo-Gangetic plain (up to 20 μg/m³). In the south of India, coal-fired power plants account for 20–25% of ambient PM_2.5. 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.

我们研究了印度2018年燃煤电厂的发电对健康的影响，以及预计到2030年燃煤发电能力扩大对健康的影响。我们估算了SO ₂，NO _X和每个工厂的颗粒物2.5μm（PM _2.5），并使用化学传输模型来估算电厂排放物对周围PM _2.5的影响。来自2019年全球疾病负担（GBD）的浓度响应函数用于预测PM _2.5的变化对死亡率的影响。当前和计划中的工厂平均将占环境PM _2.5的13％在印度。这反映了对印度中部和印度恒河平原部分地区的PM _2.5的绝对贡献最大（高达20μg/ m ³）。在印度南部，燃煤电厂占环境PM _2.5的20–25％。我们估计，每年有112,000人死亡可归因于目前和计划中的燃煤电厂。不建设计划中的工厂将避免这些工厂在整个生命周期中至少造成844,000人过早死亡。对反映这些当地健康益处的电力征税将激励采用可再生能源。