Indian annual ambient air quality standard is achievable by completely mitigating emissions from household sources

Significance The Indian government has initiated programs to reduce household use of biomass cookfuels, but their motivation does not include ambient pollution reductions. We estimate ambient exposure reductions that result and subsequent health benefits of seven different scenarios that mirror plausible mitigation policies to address household energy needs currently met by biomass combustion for cooking and water- and space heating, and by kerosene for lighting. If all households transitioned to clean fuels, ∼13% of premature mortality in India could be averted from the reduction in ambient pollution, and the average ambient PM 2.5 concentration in the country would meet national PM 2.5 standards. These results will assist in assessing current policies and making decisions on future mitigation policies to tackle air pollution.