Overview

• EnviStats India data shows the country’s annual mean temperature climbed from 25.05°C in 2021 to 25.74°C in 2024, marking the hottest year since 1901 with almost 200 heatwave days.
• Approximately 57 percent of Indian districts, home to 76 percent of the population, are classified at high to very high risk of extreme heat.
• Heatwaves now cause nearly 10 percent of weather-related fatalities and have driven a 62.2 percent rise in mortality rates, with over 40,000 suspected heat stroke cases recorded last year.
• Most existing heat action plans focus on short-term emergency measures and fail to address long-term systemic exposure, leaving urban informal workers—about 80 percent of whom face heat stress—especially vulnerable.
• NDMA plans to extend its 250 city plans to the district level, introduce mitigation funds and mobilise resources from private, NGO and local government partners for grassroots interventions.