Coal based power plants constituted the majority of the power generated in India which almost doubled from 148 Gigawatt to 288 Gigawatt during 2008–2015. They majorly contributed to SO2 (49%), NOx (34%), PMfine (6.6%) & CO (6%) emissions in India. PM2.5 concentration from power plants was observed to be highest in winter (14.12 μg/m3) and lowest in monsoon (1.99 μg/m3). SIA such as SO4− (47%–100%) and NO3− (9%–49%) formed the bulk of PM2.5 emitted from power plants. 

Pollution through these power plants cause an average of 115,000 premature deaths per year and financial loss of about $4.6 billion.