NEW DELHI — India has nine of the world’s 10 most polluted cities, according to one World Health Organization measure, with choking urban smog that researchers estimate killed 1.24 million people in 2017.

But until this week, it did not have nationally set targets for reducing hazardous air pollution.

That changed this week, when the government’s National Clean Air Program unveiled a five-year plan that environmentalists welcomed as long overdue but criticized as lacking clear mechanisms or robust funding to achieve its aims, which include reducing air pollution in 102 cities by up to 30 percent from 2017 levels.

Some observers questioned the timing of the initiative: Delayed by a year because of bureaucratic hurdles, it arrives as the central government faces elections in May. It also comes alongside other crowd-pleasing measures such as a promise to reserve 10 percent of government jobs for those earning less than 800,000 rupees annually, or about $11,300.

“This is an important step forward, setting a reduction target,” said Anumita Roychowdhury, a director at the Center for Science and Environment, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization in New Delhi.