The industrial sector is a significant contributor of stack emissions in India, from localised sources such as brick kilns and diesel generator sets, to large centralised facilities such as coal fired thermal power plants and oil refineries. As a result, industry emission standards have an important role to play in reducing emissions and improving air quality.The main objectives of the research carried out was to characterize the existing process for setting air emission standards in India and to assess the degree to which this process is followed in practice,to assess the level of communication, engagement and transparency at each stage of the process and to undertake an assessment of, and comparison against, international practices and processes for emission standard development, including those applied in the European Union, China and USA.The findings of the report indicate that progress has been made in developing emission standards, and improvements are visible in several industries.With industry sectors being so complex, it is important for standards to be appropriately differentiated. A stronger evidence base is required to inform the standards. In addition, state pollution control boards and other stakeholders must utilize updated technical resources to develop the standards. Furthermore, there remains a lack of clarity on the standard setting process. The report identifies specific ways to address these and other pertinent challenges.