In a significant move to improve air quality in Uttar Pradesh, the Airawat Research Foundation at IIT-Kanpur has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with IBM to deploy artificial intelligence in air quality monitoring. The collaboration aims to provide real-time data and evidence-based solutions that can balance economic growth with environmental health.
The agreement was announced at a workshop held in Lucknow on Scalable Air Quality Technology. The pilot project will begin in Lucknow, with plans to expand across the state and beyond.
Professor Sachchidanand Tripathi, Dean of the Kotak School of Sustainability and Project Director at Airawat, said that the foundation has developed an AI-powered “airshed-based air quality stack” for Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and neighbouring regions. Over the past two years, Airawat has already installed 1,365 low-cost sensors almost one in each administrative block compared to just 110 government-operated monitors.
IBM India Software Labs’ Vice-President Vishal Chahal emphasized the importance of such collaborations. “This MoU is a model of how government, academia, and industry can innovate together for environmental benefit. By combining IIT-Kanpur’s deep domain expertise with IBM’s AI and tech infrastructure, we can help drive better decisions and contribute to India’s clean air mission.”
Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board Chairperson Ravindra Pratap Singh echoed the urgency for fine-grained data to understand and address pollution hotspots more accurately. “We need small-grid, hyper-local data to form realistic and impactful policies,” he said.
Highlighting the gravity of rural pollution, Anil Kumar, Principal Secretary of the Environment, Forest and Climate Change Department, pointed out that block-level monitoring has revealed extremely poor air quality in districts like Azamgarh, Kushinagar, and Shravasti sometimes worse than urban areas. However, he also acknowledged some progress in improving air quality in the National Capital Region (NCR).
The workshop featured presentations by IIT-Kanpur and other institutions, sharing insights and strategies for tackling air pollution in northern India. The broader goal of the IIT-Kanpur–IBM partnership is to scale these AI-driven models to create more resilient, data-based solutions across India’s air quality landscape.