‘Shouldn’t property prices be linked to AQI?…’: Zerodha’s Nithin Kamath questions India’s real estate logic

Zerodha co-founder Nithin Kamath has sparked a debate by questioning whether property prices should be linked to air quality.

If an area has poor air quality, he argues, real estate prices and rents should reflect the health risks residents face.

“So, shouldn’t property prices be linked to AQI? The higher the AQI, the lower the real estate prices should be,” Kamath wrote on X, pointing out that people living in high-pollution areas are “accepting higher odds of respiratory ailments, cancer, etc.”

Kamath’s stance emerged from a realization he had after meeting Bryan Johnson during a podcast. “The biggest takeaway for me… was debunking the myth I once believed: that only Delhi in India has an air quality problem—and that it occurs only in winter.”

Kamath recalled recording Nikhil Kamath’s WTF podcast in Bandra, Mumbai, and being shocked to find the AQI at 160+ in a sea-facing apartment. He later tested air quality at his Bengaluru office in JP Nagar, a quiet area, only to see a reading of 120+.

“If the AQI was this high in Bandra, just imagine the levels in the more crowded parts of the town,” he noted. He also pointed out that Bengaluru’s construction boom and poor roads worsen air pollution.

While AQI below 50 is considered good in the US and Europe, India’s levels are far worse. In Delhi, AQI can hit 500+ in winter and 200+ even in summer. Prolonged exposure to such conditions has severe health effects, including lung damage, cardiovascular diseases, and a higher risk of cancer.

Kamath has earlier suggested linking property values to air and water quality as a way to address pollution, proposing a ‘property price discount’ in high-AQI areas. However, real estate experts remain skeptical.

“Real estate prices are dictated by land scarcity, demand-supply dynamics, infrastructure, and connectivity—not environmental factors,” said Prashant Thakur, Regional Director – Research, ANAROCK Group.

Others pointed out that property values already account for environmental factors—developers charge premiums for homes with views of parks, lakes, or forests.

Yet Kamath’s argument raises a broader question: If people pay more for homes near greenery, shouldn’t they pay less for living in pollution-heavy zones? While real estate pricing remains market-driven, his view brings attention to a larger issue—the cost of ignoring air quality in India’s cities.