"Too hot to work, too poor to stop: How insurance protects India’s informal workers during heatwaves", 11 May 2026

… Mrs Lataben Solanki, a homemaker, sells women’s undergarments from a pushcart at a busy market in Ahmedabad whenever she can. She makes about 3,000 rupees (S$40.50) a month when business is good, giving her family’s earnings a much-needed boost.

During summers, however, when temperatures in the western Indian state of Gujarat often exceed 40 deg C, her earnings are halved because it is too hot to be out in the open…

Her experience mirrors that of many daily wage workers in India whose earnings decline during periods of extreme heat, which is becoming more frequent and raising concerns about climate-induced economic losses affecting their already vulnerable livelihoods…

The insurance covers the hottest months of April to July each year. Each time a predetermined temperature threshold is breached during this period, the women receive a payout. The total payout, however, is capped at 2,000 rupees.

… Mrs Paramar used the 750 rupees she received as compensation in 2024 to pay for the treatment of her ageing in-laws, who fell ill from heat stress in their tin-roofed house.

The women did not receive any payout in 2025 as temperature readings in their city did not cross the predetermined threshold.

Mr Chirayu Brahmbhatt, a development associate with MHT, told … that the insurance provides welcome assistance for such workers during periods of extreme heat that can deal them a double whammy.

“On the one hand, their income-generating capacity decreases during a heatwave. But on the other, their expenditures increase in the same period,” he said.

Other players in India have also experimented with parametric heat insurance, but take-up remains low for a multitude of reasons. These include poor awareness about the impact of climate change among low-income groups, as well as their willingness and ability to pay for such a product…