For the first time since I arrived in Delhi about 40 years ago, I skipped winter in the city for two months expressly to avoid air pollution and stayed in a coastal town. I would have been away longer if I could have helped it. This would have been unimaginable about 10 years ago. I loved Delhi winters—the chill, the fog, the charcoal fires and aromas wafting from tandoors. But the charm is now clouded by smog: thermal inversion makes Delhi a chamber of toxic gases and particles in winter. Is it possible that Delhi has reached the environmental limits of growth? The National Capital Region is still the most attractive investment destination in the whole of north India. Delhi alone got $28.3 billion in foreign equity inflows between October 2019 and September 2023, to rank fourth after Maharashtra, Karnataka and Gujarat. This excludes foreign equity invested in enterprises in Gurgaon, Faridabad, Noida, Ghaziabad and other cities of the capital region. It has a huge pool of talent and offers plenty of opportunities for those wanting to start or advance in their careers. It’s an education hub and a large market. While politically, the boundaries of the the NCR are set, the gravitational pull of urbanisation can draw more towns into its orbit.