The Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs provided a comprehensive update on urban heat island mitigation efforts in Indian cities through a written reply in the Rajya Sabha. As per the 12th Schedule of the Constitution, urban planning falls under State Governments and Urban Local Bodies, with the Central Government providing schematic interventions, advisories, guidelines, financial assistance, and technical support.
National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) formulated 'National Guidelines for Preparation of Action Plan-Prevention and Management of Heat Wave' in 2019, requiring cities to conduct vulnerability assessments and include mitigation measures in Heat Action Plans (HAPs). Currently, 23 states, 195 districts, and 64 cities have prepared HAPs. NDMA also issued an advisory on "Protecting Informal Workers during Heatwaves in Indian Cities" recommending measures such as shaded vending zones, hydration facilities, cooling centers, flexible working hours, and heat alert dissemination.
Delhi's climate vulnerability assessment using IMD data (1991-2020) and IPCC AR6 scenarios identified increasing heat waves and rising temperatures as major climate vulnerability hotspots. The study projects summer maximum temperatures to rise by approximately 1.5°C under SSP 2-4.5 and up to 2.1°C under SSP 5-8.5 by mid-century, with increased frequency of very hot days. South Delhi was identified as the most climate-vulnerable district, while New Delhi is the least vulnerable. The revised Delhi State Action Plan on Climate Change incorporates cool roof installation, cooling corridors, urban green infrastructure expansion, UHI management integration into urban planning, eco-friendly redevelopment, wetland restoration, and flood-resilient infrastructure.
The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change's India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP) provides an integrated vision for sustainable cooling across sectors with goals of reducing cooling demand, improving energy efficiency, and promoting better technology options for climate resilience.
MoHUA has issued multiple guidelines including Urban Green Guidelines (2014) and Urban and Regional Development Plans Formulation and Implementation Guidelines (2014) that provide green-city planning components and micro-climate-responsive measures such as street and building orientation, water body conservation, open spaces, vegetation, green buildings, solar-responsive design, and green roofs.
Under AMRUT and AMRUT 2.0 schemes, significant progress has been made: 4,171 park projects covering 18,168 acres approved with 3,458 parks (11,119 acres) developed; 2,960 waterbody projects covering approximately 1.21 lakh acres approved with 1,104 projects (18,535 acres) completed; 346 green mobility projects (473 km of pedestrian/walkways/cycling tracks) completed; and 99 lakh LED streetlights installed resulting in 665 crore kWh annual savings and 46 lakh tonnes CO₂ reduction. Additionally, 7.65 lakh saplings were planted under the AMRUT MITRA "Women for Trees" initiative in 2025-26.
AMRUT 2.0 includes a pilot program "Building Heat Resilient Cities: A Strategic Pilot for Urban India" for scientific assessment of urban heat mitigation in 12 cities: Bengaluru, Bhopal, Dehradun, Ghaziabad, Gwalior, Gurugram, Guwahati, Jodhpur, Ludhiana, Nashik, Vadodara, and Visakhapatnam. The program identifies principal drivers of urban heat stress, maps priority heat-vulnerable areas, and provides city-specific recommendations for urban greening, water-sensitive planning, passive cooling, and other mitigation measures.
States have been incentivized under the 'Scheme for Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment' (SSASCI) from 2022 to 2025 to promote climate sustainability through urban planning interventions including strengthening natural ecosystems, sponge city planning, water body conservation, urban forests, and green-blue infrastructure development to mitigate urban heat stress.