Improvements in SO(2) pollution in India: role of technology and environmental regulations

India relies heavily on coal-based thermal power plants to meet its energy demands. Sulphur dioxide (SO(2)) emitted from these plants and industries is a major air pollutant. Analysis of spatial and temporal changes in SO(2) using accurate and continuous observations is required to formulate mitigation strategies to curb the increasing air pollution in India. Here, we present the temporal changes in SO(2) concentrations over India in the past four decades (1980–2020). Our analysis shows that the Central and East India, and Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) are the hotspots of SO(2), as these regions house a cluster of thermal power plants, petroleum refineries, steel manufacturing units, and cement Industries. Thermal power plants (51%), and manufacturing and construction industries (29%) are the main sources of anthropogenic SO(2) in India. Its concentration over India is higher in winter (December–February) and lower in pre-monsoon (March–May) seasons. The temporal analyses reveal that SO(2) concentrations in India increased between 1980 and 2010 due to high coal burning and lack of novel technology to contain the emissions during the period. However, SO(2) shows a decreasing trend in recent decade (2010–2020) because of the environmental regulations and implementation of effective control technologies such as the flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) and scrubber. Since 2010, India's renewable energy production has also been increased substantially when India adopted a sustainable development policy. Therefore, the shift in energy production from conventional coal to renewable sources, solid environmental regulation, better inventory, and effective technology would help to curb SO(2) pollution in India. Both economic growth and air pollution control can be performed hand-in-hand by adopting new technology to reduce SO(2) and GHG emissions. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11356-022-21319-2.