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India has no dedicated national budget framework or financial scheme focused exclusively on heatwave preparedness, response, adaptation or resilience, a new report says.
The report analysed Union Budget data from 2020-21 to 2026-27 across 130 schemes and 16 ministries.
Only 27 of the 130 tracked schemes were identified as directly relevant to heat-related risks and impacts.
Between 88% and 93% of heat-relevant spending flowed through broader development schemes rather than dedicated heat-risk programmes.
The report flags gaps in health preparedness, occupational heat protection, climate research and agriculture, even as rising temperatures increase risks for workers, farmers and public health.
As India grapples with rising temperatures and the growing threat of a ‘Super El Niño’, a new report warns that the country’s spending priorities are yet to match the urgency of the heat crisis, with no dedicated national budget framework or financial scheme focused exclusively on heatwave preparedness, response and adaptation.
The report, Standing the Heat: An Analysis of Heatwave Financing in India’s Union Budget, analysed Union Budget data from 2020-21 to 2026-27. It found that only 27 of 130 schemes tracked across 16 ministries could be considered directly relevant to heat-related risks and impacts, including schemes linked to labour protection, health services, crop insurance and social protection. Several of these schemes received little or no funding across multiple years, said the report jointly produced by the Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability, Greenpeace India and Budget Analysis and Research Centre Trust.
The report found that, between 2020-21 and 2026-27, only 9-11 per cent of tracked allocations went to schemes identified as directly relevant, or potentially usable, for addressing heat-related risks and impacts. Most of the spending — between 88 per cent and 93 per cent — flowed through broader development programmes that may contribute indirectly to heat resilience.
“The predominance of indirect spending suggests that India continues to rely primarily on broader development schemes rather than dedicated mechanisms for heat risk reduction, preparedness, and response,” it said.
In 2026-27, the report tracked Rs 8.57 lakh crore across 130 schemes. About 10 per cent of this was allocated to schemes that could directly or potentially address heat-related risks, while the rest went through broader sectoral programmes that contribute to heat resilience indirectly.
The report flagged gaps across several key ministries. It said the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the nodal ministry for climate-related challenges, has no scheme explicitly designed to address heat-related risks and impacts.
The Union Ministry of Labour also has no dedicated occupational heat-protection scheme or heat-stress compensation framework, the report said. This leaves workers in heat-exposed occupations dependent on broader welfare programmes that are not specifically designed for heat-related health and livelihood impacts.
The gap is significant because outdoor and informal workers are among those most exposed to rising temperatures each summer.
The report also found no dedicated budgetary scheme for heat emergency preparedness or mitigation in the health sector. It highlighted low spending under the Health Sector Disaster Preparedness and Response scheme. In 2024-25, only Rs 14.92 crore was spent against an allocation of Rs 94 crore, a utilisation rate of 15.9 per cent, the report said.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Science and Technology received zero allocation for both its heat-relevant schemes from 2025-26 onwards, which the report said could constrain research, innovation, and evidence generation needed for long-term heat responses, just as forecasters warn of mounting unpredictability in heatwave behaviour tied to the El Niño-La Niña climate cycle in the Pacific ocean.
The Union Ministry of Science and Technology received zero allocation for both its heat-relevant schemes from 2025-26 onwards, the report found. This could constrain research, innovation and evidence generation needed for long-term heat responses, it said.
The finding comes at a time when forecasters have warned of growing unpredictability in heatwave behaviour linked to the El Niño-La Niña cycle.
The Ministry of Agriculture manages 40 schemes that could potentially support heat resilience, the report said. But only three were classified as directly relevant.
The rest contribute indirectly through social protection, nature-based solutions, infrastructure and livelihood support. This is a concern because agriculture supports nearly half of India’s population and remains highly exposed to heat stress, erratic rainfall and the risk of below-normal monsoon rainfall often associated with El Niño years.