A new report reveals that just 10 per cent of ₹8.57 lakh crore in tracked government schemes has direct potential to tackle India’s escalating heatwave crisis, exposing major financing gaps.

A new analysis of Union Budgets shows that public financing for heat resilience remains woefully inadequate and fragmented. The report comes as India is in the grip of a escalating heat crisis and heatwaves are becoming more frequent, intense, and deadly, threatening lives, livelihoods, public health, agriculture, and economic productivity.

Titled Standing the Heat: An Analysis of Heatwave Financing in India’s Union Budget, the report – jointly produced by Greenpeace India, the Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA), and BARC Trust – examines seven years of budget data from FY 2020–21 to FY 2026–27. It tracks ₹8.57 lakh crore across 130 government schemes in the latest fiscal year and finds that only around 10 per cent has the potential to directly address heat-related risks and impacts. The vast majority (88–93 per cent) flows through broader sectoral programmes that contribute only indirectly to heat resilience.

This revelation comes as India recorded its hottest year on recent record, with projections indicating heatwave days could double in major cities by 2030. Approximately 57 per cent of districts, home to 76 per cent of the population, face high to very high heat risk. The human and economic toll is mounting: excessive deaths, hospitalisations, lost wages for outdoor workers, crop failures, and strained infrastructure. Despite this, the policy and financial response lags significantly.

Fragmented Response Across Ministries with No Coordinated Framework

Heatwave management in India remains scattered across multiple ministries – labour, health, agriculture, rural development, urban development, environment, and others – without a unified national framework or dedicated budget line. There is still no standalone national disaster classification for heatwaves under the Disaster Management Act, which limits access to dedicated funds. Only 11 states formally recognise heatwaves as a state-specific disaster, allowing limited use of disaster response funds.

The report classifies schemes into those with direct relevance (explicitly addressing heat vulnerabilities through labour protection, health services, crop insurance, or social protection) and those with indirect relevance (broader development or environmental programmes that can support resilience).

Across the seven-year period, only 27 out of 130 tracked schemes were deemed directly relevant. Many of these have received little or no funding in multiple years, severely limiting their effectiveness.

Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC): As India’s nodal climate ministry, MoEFCC has zero dedicated heat-targeted schemes. All eight of its heat-relevant schemes contribute only indirectly through broader environmental and adaptation programmes. This highlights a critical disconnect between the ministry’s mandate and the urgent need for heat-specific action.

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare: There is no dedicated scheme for heat emergency preparedness or mitigation. Heat-related activities are embedded in wider health programmes, but implementation is poor. For instance, the Health Sector Disaster Preparedness and Response scheme was allocated ₹94 crore in 2024–25 but utilised only ₹14.92 crore – a mere 15.9 per cent utilisation rate. This under-spending raises serious concerns about the health system’s readiness for extreme heat events.

Ministry of Labour and Employment: Outdoor and informal workers, who form a large part of India’s workforce, are among the most vulnerable. While several labour welfare schemes have potential relevance, there is no dedicated occupational heat protection scheme or heat stress compensation framework. The Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM), which supported urban informal workers like street vendors and waste pickers, has been effectively shut down. Allocations plummeted from ₹816 crore in 2020–21 to zero by 2025–26.

Ministry of Science and Technology: Funding for both heat-relevant schemes dropped to zero from 2025–26 onwards. This cripples critical research, innovation, early warning systems, and evidence generation needed for long-term heat resilience.

Ministry of Agriculture: Out of 40 schemes with potential relevance, only three are directly relevant. The ministry increasingly relies on social insurance schemes to protect farmers from weather-related shocks, including heat-induced crop and productivity losses. However, dedicated heat-focused interventions remain limited.

Other ministries, including Rural Development, Housing and Urban Affairs, and Earth Sciences, show similar patterns of indirect and thinly spread allocations. The report notes that “heat is everyone’s problem but no one’s priority,” making accountability extremely difficult.

Voices from the Ground Highlight Everyday Struggles

During the report launch, community members maintaining the Heat Registry – a unique, community-driven handwritten initiative documenting real-time heat impacts – shared harrowing personal stories. Mohit Valecha, one of the registry maintainers, said: “We can’t escape heat anymore. The heat has changed how we work, travel, rest, sleep and interact with each other. The government must act to protect our work and health.”

These accounts underscore the disproportionate impact on informal workers, women, the elderly, children, and marginalised communities who lack access to cooling, adequate water, or flexible work arrangements.

Expert Perspectives and Broader Implications

Raman VR, Executive Director of CBGA, emphasised: “While tracing the demands and budget allocations, it appears that ‘heat’ is everyone’s problem but no one’s priority. Most of the budget allocations are indirect and spread so thinly across ministries that holding anyone accountable for heat-related actions becomes nearly impossible.”

Aakiz Farooq, Campaigner at Greenpeace India, linked the crisis to global emissions: “Today’s heat is largely driven by historical and ongoing emissions from major fossil fuel producers and high-emitting economies. Governments must urgently explore the full potential of existing public finance to address extreme heat, and apply the polluter pays principle.”

Nesar Ahmad, Director of BARC Trust, called for urgent structural changes: “The heatwave must be designated as a nationally notified disaster as recommended by the 16^th Finance Commission. There is an urgent need to have a scheme specifically addressing the heat crisis… There is also a need to give greater autonomy to the local bodies.” He highlighted implementation gaps, noting the mismatch between allocations and actual expenditure in 2024–25.

Key Recommendations from the Report

The report outlines a clear roadmap for strengthening heat resilience:

1. Disaster Classification: Formally notify heatwaves as a national disaster under the Disaster Management Act to unlock dedicated funding through National and State Disaster Response Funds.
2. Governance Framework: Create a cross-ministerial coordination mechanism involving the 16+ departments currently handling heat-related work, with clear roles, dedicated allocations, and accountability metrics.
3. Worker Protection: Strengthen social protection for informal and outdoor workers through heat-risk insurance, income-loss compensation, revised labour codes incorporating heat stress guidelines, and flexible working hours.
4. Community Infrastructure: Invest in accessible community cooling solutions – shaded rest areas, cooling centres, drinking water stations, and green spaces – particularly in heat-vulnerable urban and rural neighbourhoods.
5. Local Empowerment: Provide greater financial and decision-making autonomy to urban local bodies and panchayats for implementing Heat Action Plans without excessive bureaucratic delays.
6. Gender-Responsive Financing: Mainstream gender considerations across all heat-related schemes to address the heightened vulnerability of women, who often bear caregiving responsibilities and work in informal sectors.
7. Research and Innovation: Restore and increase funding for the Ministry of Science and Technology to support early warning systems, heat-health research, and technological solutions.
8. Additional Revenue Streams: Introduce progressive environmental taxation on large corporate polluters to generate dedicated funds for long-term adaptation and resilience-building.
9. Better Utilisation: Address implementation bottlenecks to ensure budgeted funds are actually spent on the ground.

The Broader Context and Way Forward

India’s heat crisis is not just an environmental issue – it is a public health emergency, an economic risk, and a social justice challenge. Extreme heat could cost the economy 2.5 to 4.5 per cent of the GDP by 2030 through lost productivity alone. Without dedicated financing, broader development gains risk being undermined.

The report stresses that while existing schemes offer significant opportunities for repurposing and strengthening, relying solely on indirect approaches is insufficient. A dedicated national heat budget and policy framework are essential to move from reactive responses to proactive resilience-building.

As temperatures continue to rise, the choices made in upcoming budgets will determine how well India stands the heat – protecting its people, economy, and future. Policymakers must act decisively to integrate heat resilience into the heart of public finance.