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Air purifier sales spike in India as its cities battle pollution

Breathless in the city.

Manish Singh

on November 4, 2016

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

As the government fumbles over effective measures to curb severe air quality in India’s capital of New Delhi, people are increasingly looking at air purifiers for relief.

Major ecommerce businesses in India are reporting significant surge in the sales of air purifier units in the country. The product category, which has existed in India for over two decades but struggled to become a household name, has suddenly become a talking point among people on social media.

Amazon India says it sold three times more air purifiers this Diwali compared to the previous month. Almost half of all these orders came from cities such as Delhi, Gurgaon and Bangalore. Flipkart had similar findings, noting that it has seen 2.5 times growth in air purifier units sale compared to last year. Specialist air purifier solutions brand Blueair, said it has seen 200 percent growth in air purifier sales in the last 15 days.

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The sudden interest in air purifying products among people comes as several Indian cities report of increasingly growing air pollution after Diwali. The festival of light, which sees many people burst crackers, combined with the burning of farmlands and residual fodders in nearby states, have resulted in an unprecedented severe air quality in New Delhi and several other states in India.

Five days after Diwali, for instance, the air quality index reading of the national capital is still classified as "hazardous". A report on UNICEF published this week found that over two billion children worldwide breathe polluted air. India and China were among the most affected countries.

Not just air purifiers, but people are also actively looking for air masks for immediate comfort. "Sales of pollution masks have jumped 6X in the last few days with customer demand being 13X over last year. The highest number of orders for pollution masks were placed by customers on Nov. 1. The demand continues to be high from northern India with most orders coming from Delhi," an Amazon India spokesperson told Mashable India. The surge in sales happened a couple of days after Diwali, which fell on Oct. 30 this year.