Under the agreement, reached after the five-day long gruelling negotiation, the developed countries, including the US, Japan, Canada and west European nations, will reduce HFC use first, followed by China along with a large number of other developing countries.

India and nine other countries of South and West Asia, including Pakistan, Iran and Iraq, will follow suit.

Overall, the agreement is expected to reduce the HFC use by 85% by 2045.

Under the agreed schedule, the developed countries, led by the US, will reduce HFC use by 85% by 2036 over a 2011-13 baseline. China, which is the largest producer of HFCs in the world, will reduce HFC use by 80% by 2045 over the 2020-22 baseline.

India will reduce the use of HFCs by 85% over the 2024-26 baseline by 2047. Freezing year for India will be 2028 - it means the country would peak its use of HFCs by 2028 and thereafter start phasing it down.

"We welcome this agreement as it reflects the principal of common but differentiated responsibility. It also reflects the emerging reality of a world in which China will have to take more and more responsibility to solve global environmental issues," said SunitaNarain, environmentalist and director general of the Delhi-based think-tank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).

Developed countries have also agreed to provide enhanced funding support to developing countries under the Kigali deal on Montreal Protocol.

Unlike the Paris Agreement on climate change, the Montreal Protocol amendment is legally binding.

Praising the Indian negotiating team for reaching at this historic deal to phase down the HFCs, Chandra Bhushan, deputy director general of the CSE said "India went with a clear strategy and a proactive agenda to enhance the overall environmental ambition of the deal and to protect the nation's economic interests. The amendment finally agreed to not only protects India's economic interests, but also doubles the climate benefit compared to the previous Indian proposal. It will avoid HFC emissions equivalent to 70 billion tonne of CO2."

The agreement in Kigali is the beginning of a long process to replace HFCs with energy-efficient and environmentally sound alternatives.

"We must take this opportunity to leapfrog the chemical treadmill and move out of fluorinated refrigerants to energy-efficient natural refrigerants. India has the potential to become a major manufacturing hub for natural refrigerant-based equipments," said Bhushan.

Highlighting the big complementary role of this deal to fight the menace of climate change, Bhushan further said, "What we have achieved in Kigali is the beginning. We can build on this success and further enhance the climate actions by countries in Montreal Protocol and in other climate agreements, especially the Paris Agreement, based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibility."

The Climate Action Network (CAN) - an umbrella organisation of a number of NGOs from across the globe - too welcomed the outcome from the Montreal Protocol talks in Kigali. It said the move was a critical step towards limiting global warming.

The deal - considered as the single biggest climate action of the year - came just weeks before leaders meet in Morocco for international climate talks (COP22), beginning November 7.

"This is a major breakthrough. The world has come together to curb climate-wrecking super-pollutant HFCs. This is the biggest step we can take in the year after the Paris agreement against the widening threats from climate change. And bringing HFCs under the Montreal Protocol sends a clear signal to the global marketplace to start replacing these dangerous chemicals with a new generation of climate-friendly and energy-efficient alternatives", said David Doniger, NRDC's Climate and Clean Air program director.