Cummins in India and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) have strengthened their collaborative efforts to combat air pollution with the launch of an advanced Decision Support System (DSS) under the Cleaner Air Better Life (CABL) initiative, aimed at enabling data-driven air quality management in Pune and PimpriChinchwad.
Developed in collaboration with the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), PimpriChinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) and Airvoice, the DSS will provide authorities with up to 72-hour air quality forecasts and actionable insights to identify pollution hotspots, anticipate pollution episodes and plan timely interventions. Conceptualised by Cummins in India, CII and NITI Aayog, CABL has evolved into a national multi-stakeholder platform bringing together government, industry, academia, civil society and communities to address air pollution through focused interventions in clean transport, clean fuel, clean industry and biomass management.
ShvetaArya, Managing Director of Cummins India Ltd. and Chairperson of CII Cleaner Air Better Life, said the initiative promotes city-specific, data-backed solutions by bringing together governments, industry, technical institutions, academia and startups. AshishAggarwal, Executive Director and Chief Administrative Officer of Cummins India, said the company’s sustainability efforts extend beyond operations to delivering measurable environmental benefits for communities. CII Executive Director Shikhar Jain said predictive, technology-driven planning would help cities make smarter decisions to improve air quality and public health.
Since its inception, CABL has reached more than one lakh farmers, helped avoid the burning of 6.4 lakh tonnes of crop residue, conserved 71 billion litres of water, reduced an estimated 1.3 lakh tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, and covered 432 villages and over 4.8 lakh acres. The DSS was launched at the Clean Air Forum in the presence of senior government officials, including Pune Municipal Commissioner Naval Kishore Ram, District Collector JitendraDudi, and representatives from government, industry, research institutions and civil society.
In Kolkata, the initiative is significant as the city continues to focus on improving urban air quality through technology-driven governance and sustainable infrastructure. Experts believe predictive air quality management platforms such as the DSS could support metropolitan regions like Kolkata in enhancing pollution monitoring, enabling faster policy responses and encouraging wider adoption of collaborative clean-air solutions involving public agencies, industry and research institutions.
