In an interview with the Guardian, Prakash Javadekar said the government would announce India’s first nationwide “composite, comprehensive” air index this week. So far, India’s collection of pollution data has been haphazard and compares poorly with regional rival China.The move was welcomed by experts. Sarath Guttikunda, an expert with Urban Emissions, an independent research group, said: “We have been saying that pollution is very bad and now we’ll be able to see that. It’s a first step but it’s not going to solve the problem by itself.” .