Zerodha’s Nithin Kamath reacts as Delhi, Mumbai ranks among costliest cities, says ‘Pricier cities have worse AQI…’

Online brokerage platform Zerodha’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Nithin Kamath focused on India’s rising air pollution as New Delhi and Mumbai rank amongst the most costliest cities in the world, according to a social media post on platform X.

Kamath also highlighted how cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru have ranked in Knight Frank’s Q4 2024 Global Luxury Market Rankings regarding rising prices. 

New Delhi ranked 6th among the most costliest cities in the world. Average prices in Delhi increased 6.7 per cent, followed by Mumbai at the 7th position with a 6.1 per cent rise in the average prices, according to the Knight Frank report.

“What doesn’t get nearly enough attention is the AQI of the three cities. The pricier cities in India have worse air quality, and these are averages for the city; most places have a higher AQI,” said Kamath in his post on platform X.

The Zerodha Chief also cited an Ourworldindata articlestating that pollution levels worldwide seem to follow a “U-shaped pattern.” He gave examples of countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, and China, where this same pattern is visible as pollution levels rise drastically and then fall as the nation develops.

“But despite this, we don’t have to accept pollution as a given because of technological advancements; we can do a lot to reduce the obvious sources of pollutants,” said Kamath in his post. 

Air Pollutants

Nithin Kamath also focused on pollutants like sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, which are generated from the burning of coal for power. Currently, this contributes nearly 70 per cent of India’s energy needs.

However, people can counter the sulfur dioxide pollution by installing scrubbers in power plants, which help trap the sulphur. According to Kamath’s post, these industry-grade scrubbers are not installed in India.

“Even though China continues to burn record amounts of coal, its sulfur emissions have gone down because of this. In India, both coal use and SO₂ emissions are still rising,” said Kamath in his post. 

On the nitrogen oxide pollution front, Kamath said that transportation is the biggest source of pollution, and people living in urban areas are exposed to them even more due to the density and congestion in the cities.

“A lot can be done with stricter emission standards, which have historically forced automakers to innovate with technologies like catalytic convertors. Another thing that helps is the electrification of transport fleets,” said Kamath.

Linking the rise in pollution with higher living costs, Nithin Kamath said that higher pollution means more health issues for the people in the region. 

Zerodha Chief also cited a Reuters report which reported that insurance companies in India are likely to make people living in New Delhi pay 10 to 15 per cent more for new health insurance policies after rise in claims related to air pollution in 2024.

“Now think about all the other channels through which pollution will interact with prices and inflation. This is scary,” said Kamath in his post.