Jodhpur’s HAP, slated for launch this heat season, will prioritize an enhanced focus on the needs of particularly vulnerable groups, identified through a risk assessment (RA) that characterizes spatial patterns in heat-sensitive populations, environmental risks, and community assets. Scientific evidence in understanding how the population is affected in different regions is crucial in developing HAPs. The risk score of each ward in the city accounts for local heat exposures, household inhabitants’ physical sensitivity to heat, and adaptive capacity to minimize exposures through resources like urban cooling centres, parks, and water distribution nodes. The power of the RA approach is its flexibility to incorporate a range of relevant data sources—spanning from individual biophysical characteristics to population-level demographic, health, economic, and environmental data. The Jodhpur RA will form the basis for the city’s Heat Action Plan, as the index provides new spatial information for municipal leaders to identify heat exposure risks and prioritize ‘at-risk’ areas for targeted local interventions