Temperatures in several Indian cities have recently exceeded 45°C, with daily maximums surpassing 46°C from mid-April to May 2026 across large parts of the country, according to France24. In late April, 98 of the world's 100 hottest cities were located in India, as reported by France24. Thousands of people have died in heatwaves in India in the past three years alone, according to Bluesky. Government data from France24 puts the heatwave death toll at 37, but social activists say this figure falls far short of the reality faced by people forced to work in extreme heat, also according to France24.

Heat stress has been compounded by acute water shortages in several parts of India, as reported by France24. Telangana is battling one of its harshest summers in recent years, according to The Hindu, with rising suspected heatstroke deaths and worsening urban heat stress revealing increased human costs from extreme weather. Questions remain over ground-level implementation of heat mitigation measures and the true scale of heat-related fatalities in Telangana, as reported by The Hindu.

Many heat-related deaths in India go unrecognised or are misclassified, according to HeatHealth.info. Physicians in India often record only the immediate medical cause on death certificates, without acknowledging the role of heat as the underlying trigger, also according to HeatHealth.info. Three of the five warmest years in India have been recorded in the past decade (2015–2024), as reported by HeatHealth.info. Heatwaves in India are projected to occur thirty times more often by the end of the century if the global mean temperature increases by 2 degrees Celsius, according to HeatHealth.info.