Extreme heat drains garment worker wages

DELHI — Informal workers in Indian garment manufacturing, and other sectors, are losing roughly 15 days of paid work annually to extreme heat, with lost wages valued at $89 per worker, a new study warns.

Extrapolated nationwide, heat-linked kidney problems and reduced productivity could be costing Indian workers $78 billion in income each year, equivalent to 1.99% of India’s GDP in 2024.