The Delhi government has approved several measures to encourage the use of clean energy to fight against air pollution, reported news agency Reuters.

The city government is giving financial incentives for restaurants switching to electric or gas tandoor ovens from coal. Apart from this, industries switching to piped natural gas will also get incentives.

“Delhi government has taken several steps to tackle pollution,” Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted.

Delhi govt has taken several steps to tackle pollution in Delhi https://t.co/zrAGRgXpNs

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) September 4, 2018

A report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) back in May 2018 had said India was home to the world’s 14 most polluted cities. According to the report, New Delhi was the sixth most polluted city in the world.

In the recent years, the air quality has worsened in New Delhi because of illegal crop burring in neighbouring states. Vehicle exhausts and rising construction dust have only exasperated the menace and turned it to an annual crisis.

In an earlier effort to fight air pollution, India’s top court upheld a ban on the use of petroleum coke, a cheaper and dirtier alternative to coal in November 2018.

Recently, Mercom reported that Delhi government has approved the hiring of a consultant to run 1,000 electric buses. The Delhi government also aims to boost E-rickshaws in the city through the expansion of eligibility criteria for subsidy.

Air pollution also has an adverse impact on the solar generation. According to a new study published in the journal Energy & Environmental Science, increasing air pollution levels can affect the energy generation capabilities of installed solar projects and can be a deterrent in utilizing the full solar potential.

It says, “Fine particulate matter is predominantly anthropogenic and is a main contributor to haze events. Reduced insolation results in lost revenue for system operators and investors in PV systems.”