Recognizing the societal consequences of regional climate change and air pollution, a need was felt to address scientific complexities related to carbonaceous aerosols, focussing on issues underlying their origin and fate, and their role as drivers of regional climate change, over India. A series of scientific workshops and inter-ministerial consultative meetings was held, during 2012-2015, under the auspices of the Indian Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change. These were attended by a pan-Indian group of scientists with wide-ranging expertise in aerosols, air pollution, radiation and monsoons, and by representatives from government agencies. A framework was envisaged, which incorporated a multidisciplinary scientific approach, joint research and training and strong links to policy making. The process of discussion and consultation culminated in the launch of a multi-institutional research and capacity building initiative, NCAP-COALESCE (National Carbonaceous Aerosols Programme- Carbonaceous Aerosol Emissions, Source apportionment and Climate Impacts) on July 7, 2017, as a constituent activity of the Climate Change Action Programme of India. The acronym COALESCE is serendipitous; it signifies coming together, both in contexts of inter-particle aerosol dynamics and of intermingling of diverse scientific expertise from a geographically representative consortium of institutions, distributed over India. In addition, international collaboration has been initiated on aspects of research in the project.
