“Of course the heat is increasing. My eyes burn,” said Sangeeta Sonawane in Mumbai’s Borivali on a hot April day. Sonawane sets up her stall on the street, near the local railway station, at 10 a.m. and spends 12 hours selling vegetables. In the peak afternoon, she uses a piece of thermocol or wraps a dupatta over her head to shield herself from the heat.

This summer, places such as Mumbai already reported a heatwave in March, and the India Meteorological Department has forecast more heatwave days and warmer nights in several parts of the country.

Every summer, millions of Indians in informal work lose incomes to extreme heat, as IndiaSpend reported in February 2026. They work slower, take unpaid sick days, or stop work entirely when temperatures become unbearable. They have no paid leave, no air-conditioned workplaces, and no financial buffer.

Globally, more than 2.4 billion workers are exposed to excessive heat, resulting in more than 22.85 million occupational injuries each year, according to the World Health Organization. More than one third of all persons who frequently work in hot conditions experience physiological heat strain.

In addition, for every degree increase beyond 20°C in Wet-Bulb Globe Temperature—a measure of heat stress that takes into account air temperature, humidity, wind speed, sun angle, and cloud cover—productivity decreases by 2-3 percent.

India is projected to lose about 5.8 percent of working hours in 2030, up from 4.3 percent in 1995, the International Labour Organisation estimated. Given its large population, the country is expected to lose 34 million full time jobs in 2030 as a result of heat stress—with agriculture and construction, the sectors with the highest number of workers, expected to be most affected.

In 2023, extreme heat cost India an estimated 181 billion potential labour hours, translating into income losses of about Rs 13 lakh crore (about $141 billion), according to The Lancet’s 2024 report on climate and health policy priorities for India, we had reported in February.

Two recent studies showing the impact of heat stress on garment workers and street vendors illustrate the increased vulnerability. The former work in dense factory settings with cramped workstations and poor ventilation.

A study published in February 2026, which surveyed 115 garment workers in Tamil Nadu and Delhi, showed that in the last 12 months, 87 percent workers reported facing heat-related issues such as headaches, dizziness, weakness and muscle cramps.

Eleven of the 15 factories where the respondents worked have roofs made of metal or asbestos, materials that trap heat indoors. Three in four workers said the heat at their workstations is so intense that it makes them feel unhealthy, “like working in a furnace”. Two in three said the heat affected their........

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