New Delhi, April 16 -- A new study found that the world's first market for trading in particulate matter emissions, launched in Gujarat's Surat, delivered both environmental and economic benefits. The programme lowered industrial pollution, slashed abatement costs for plants and improved compliance with environmental regulations.

Published in the May 2025 issue of The Quarterly Journal of Economics and released on April 15, 2025, the study evaluated the emissions trading scheme (ETS), a cap-and-trade system for particulate pollution. The programme, operational for over five years, was the first of its kind globally for particulate matter and India's first pollution trading scheme of any kind.

Using a randomised controlled trial in Surat...