Coal-fired power plants (CFPPs) account for > 70% of electricity generation in India, but < 5% of facilities have installed technologies for sulfur dioxide (SO₂) and nitrogen oxide (NO_X) removal. Emissions of these pollutants lead to the formation of fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) and an increased risk of premature mortality for exposed populations. Here, we use a nested version of the GEOS-Chem global chemical transport model (0.5° × 0.625° resolution) for India to estimate reductions in PM_2.5 concentrations that could have been achieved by implementing existing emission control technologies like flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) and/or selective catalytic reduction (SCR). We quantify the associated burden of disease using the integrated exposure response (IER) and global exposure mortality model (GEMM) functions and compare the costs of premature mortality to those for FGD installation. Model simulations for 2010 suggest installation of FGD would have reduced mean annual PM_2.5 concentrations across India by 8%, compared to 3% with SCR installation, and 11% with both FGD and SCR. A 7–28% reduction in PM_2.5 was simulated for local communities closest to CFPPs (same model grid cell), leading to up to 17% reduction in annual premature mortality. Overall, more than 0.21–0.48 million premature deaths would have been avoided over a 10-year period if FGD had been implemented on all CFPPs, compared to 0.09–0.21 million with SCR and 0.22–0.72 million with both FGD and SCR. Benefits associated with such actions are approximately $18.1–$604 billion USD per year, which is equivalent to ~ 0.44 to 10% of India’s GDP. These results suggest that monetary benefits from avoided premature mortality far outweigh the capital and operational costs of FGD and/or SCR installation of $19.5 billion and/or $32.8 billion per year, respectively. This information is essential because the high costs of installation and operation are often given as reasons for delaying installation and commissioning. We conclude that policy actions to control air pollution from CFPPs are economically justifiable.

燃煤电厂 (CFPP) 占印度发电量的 70% 以上，但只有 < 5% 的设施安装了二氧化硫 (SO ₂ ) 和氮氧化物 (NO _X ) 去除技术。这些污染物的排放会导致细颗粒物 (PM _2.5 )的形成，并增加暴露人群过早死亡的风险。在这里，我们使用印度 GEOS-Chem 全球化学品传输模型的嵌套版本（0.5° × 0.625° 分辨率）来估算通过实施烟气脱硫等现有排放控制技术可实现的PM _2.5浓度降低量（ FGD）和/或选择性催化还原（SCR）。我们使用综合暴露反应 (IER) 和全球暴露死亡率模型 (GEMM) 函数来量化相关的疾病负担，并将过早死亡的成本与安装 FGD 的成本进行比较。 2010 年的模型模拟表明，安装 FGD 将使印度全国 PM _2.5年均浓度降低 8%，而安装 SCR 则可降低 3%，安装 FGD 和 SCR 则可降低 11%。对于最接近 CFPP（同一模型网格单元）的当地社区，模拟 PM _2.5减少 7-28% ，从而使年度过早死亡率减少高达 17%。总体而言，如果所有燃煤电厂均实施 FGD，则 10 年内可避免超过 0.21-0.48 万人过早死亡，而采用 SCR 则可避免 0.09-021 万人过早死亡，同时采用 FGD 和 SCR 则可避免 0.22-072 万人过早死亡。与此类行动​​相关的效益每年约为 18.1 至 6,040 亿美元，相当于印度 GDP 的 0.44 至 10%。这些结果表明，避免过早死亡带来的经济效益远远超过每年 195 亿美元和/或 328 亿美元的 FGD 和/或 SCR 安装的资本和运营成本。该信息至关重要，因为安装和操作的高成本通常被认为是延迟安装和调试的原因。我们的结论是，控制燃煤电厂空气污染的政策行动在经济上是合理的。