Air quality dips in Delhi ahead of winter every year, when cold air traps pollutants from a variety of sources including vehicles, industries, construction dust, and agricultural waste burning.
The project, estimated to cost 10 million rupees ($120,000) for 100 square kilometres (38.6 square miles), would involve spraying into clouds a mix of salts that include silver iodine, Agrawal said.
"We don't expect that big a cloud that will cover entire Delhi, but a few hundred kilometres would be good," he told Reuters.
The air quality index in the city was 506 early on Thursday, which is categorised as "hazardous" by Swiss group IQAir.
Several countries have used cloud seeding to produce rain, improve air quality and water crops in time of drought, including Mexico, the United States, China, Indonesia and Malaysia.
Persons:
Anushree, Manindra Agrawal, Agrawal, Gufran Beig, SAFAR, Beig, Shivam Patel, Mark Potter
Organizations:
REUTERS, Indian Institute of Technology, Reuters, Thomson
Locations:
New Delhi, India, DELHI, Delhi, Kanpur, Punjab, Haryana, Mexico, United States, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Mexico