India’s fossil fuel subsidy bill now exceeds its health budget. Why it matters

Even as Delhi battles scorching 45°C heat, India's fossil fuel subsidies now dwarf its health budget, highlighting a critical policy misalignment amidst a escalating climate crisis. The Union Budget 2026-27 allocates approximately INR 1.06 lakh crore (USD 12.8 billion) to health, while fossil fuel subsidies in FY2025 alone stood at least INR 4.3 lakh crore (USD 51 billion)—three times the support for clean energy and exacerbating climate impacts that directly undermine public health. This fiscal disparity carries a severe human cost, particularly for India's vast informal sector workers who bore the brunt of 247 billion potential labour hours lost to extreme heat in 2024, representing an estimated USD 194 billion in income losses. The latest Lancet Countdown report, released in October 2025, underscores that 12 of 20 health threat indicators have reached record levels globally, with India experiencing 19.8 heatwave days in 2024, of which 6.6 would not have occurred without human-induced climate change. The ongoing heatwave in Delhi, coupled with rising heatstroke and cardiac cases in hospitals, starkly illustrates the immediate health ramifications of deferred climate action. As India pushes towards its target of 500 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030, current policy choices, including significant LPG subsidies and continued reliance on coal, risk locking the nation into a high-carbon pathway. Calls are mounting for a strategic redirection of these substantial fossil fuel subsidies towards bolstering health system resilience and accelerating clean energy deployment. The nation's ability to navigate future climate shocks and safeguard public health will depend on swift, decisive action to rebalance its energy economics and prioritize sustainable development.