India may face 15-40 extra hot days annually over next 20 years: Study

CRAVIS is described as a collaborative data commons inviting organisations and partners to contribute datasets and analyses to continuously expand and strengthen its intelligence base.

CEEW data show that more than 57% of districts and nearly 75% of the population are facing high to very high heat risk.

The findings come as India expects a below-normal monsoon due to the impending El Niño.

Union commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal spoke at the CRAVIS launch, stressing that climate risks must be factored into corporate decision-making and highlighting India’s leadership in climate action since COP21.

Central and southern states such as Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are expected to witness sharper increases in both rainfall intensity and hot days.

CRAVIS projects that many districts could see 10 to 30 additional heavy rainfall days annually over the next two decades.

In Delhi, warmer nights (minimum temperatures above 20°C) are projected to rise from around 180 days per year at present to over 210 days in the next 25 years, with implications for peak electricity load and annual consumption.

More than half of India’s 281 data centres are already exposed to temperatures above 35°C for more than 90 days annually; by 2040, nearly 90% could face similar heat exposure, increasing cooling requirements and operating costs.

Unusually warm nights could rise by 20 to 40 days annually across several regions during the same period.

CRAVIS projects that India could experience 15 to 40 more unusually hot days per year on average over the next two decades, compared with the 1981–2010 baseline.

CRAVIS, an AI-powered climate intelligence platform developed by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), launched on April 29, 2026. It uses more than 40 years of public datasets from the India Meteorological Department (IMD), IITM Pune, and other institutions, with projections extending to 2070. The platform enables district-level analysis across 279 indicators under multiple emission scenarios and allows overlaying climate data with sectoral datasets such as power infrastructure, agriculture, land use and public health for integrated risk analysis. It is designed as a collaborative data commons inviting organisations and partners to contribute datasets and analyses.