Road dust emission (coarse PM) is one of the major source of ambient particulate matter (PM) pollution in many cities. The contribution of road dust to ambient PM10 mass is much higher in cities having dry and wet weather conditions. Several factors contributes to road dust emissions, which includes silt load, traffic characteristics (type, size and weight of vehicles), land use and environmental conditions.In the present research, the characteristics of road dust emissions measured at selected urban roads in Delhi and Chennai during different seasons were investigated. Silt load on urban roads were measured using US EPA procedure (AP-42). Results showed that silt load in Delhi and Chennai were in the range of 3 to 40and 3-34 g/m2.day, respectively. It was observed that urban roads located close to construction sites showed highest silt load in both cities (Chennai = 34 and Delhi = 40 g/m2.day). Lowest silt load deposit were found on the roads located in urban baseline areas (~3 g/m2.day). Further, silt load on the urban roads showed significant seasonal variation. Highest silt load was observed during winter season and lowest during summer season. The PM2.5 and PM10 emission rates for different urban roads in Delhi and Chennai cities were estimated using EPA procedure. Results showed highest emission rates from urban roads close to the construction activities (PM2.5 = 6.65 andPM1027.525 g/VKT). Further, the hydrometer analysis indicated that the silt on urban roads consists 13~18% of PM10mass 6 ~ 9% of PM2.5 mass and 4 ~ 6% of PM1 mass.