Indore, Amravati and Dewas on Tuesday emerged as top performers in curbing air pollution while Delhi ranked 32 under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP). Lucknow 15, Ghaziabad 11, Patna 27, Jamshedpur 23 and Chandigarh 8.
According to the Swach Vayu Survekshan survey 2025, Indore ranked first among cities with more than 10 lakh population, followed by Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh). Agra (Uttar Pradesh) and Surat (Gujarat) shared the third spot.
In the 3-10 lakh population category, Amravati (Maharashtra) stood first, Jhansi (Uttar Pradesh) and Moradabad (Uttar Pradesh) were joint second, while Alwar (Rajasthan) took the third position. Among smaller cities with less than three lakh people, Dewas (Madhya Pradesh) bagged the top rank, followed by Parwanoo (Himachal Pradesh) and Angul (Odisha).
Launched in 2019, NCAP is the country’s first national initiative to set clean air targets, aiming at a 40 per cent cut in particulate pollution by 2026 using 2017-18 as the base year.
According to the survey, Indore secured 1st rank with score of 200 out of 200. A cash award of Rs 1.5 crore has been provided. Indore has planted over 16 lakh trees in last year, earning a Guinness World Record, and has public transport run through 120 electric buses and 150 CNG buses. Jabalpur secured 2nd rank with score of 199 out of 200. Cash award of Rs 1 crore has been provided. Jabalpur has set up 11 MW waste to energy plant and developed greenery. Agra and Surat secured 3rd rank with a score of 196 out of 200. Cash award of Rs 25 lakh has been provided to each city. Agra has remediated legacy waste dump site and carried out Miyawaki plantation.
Surat has brought EV policy to provide incentives and tax benefits to EVs and maintains 38 per cent green cover.
The national capital secured 32 rank with score of 157.3 out of 172.3. Lucknow secured 15th rank with score of 179 out of 189. Ghaziabad secured 12th rank with score of 183 out of 198. Chandigrah ranked 8 with score of 186.6 out of the 194.6.
Meanwhile a central panel monitoring the NCAP has directed authorities in Delhi and Noida, which are lagging in pollution control fund utilisation, to take immediate corrective measures.
The decision was taken at the 18th meeting of the Implementation Committee (IC) under NCAP, held on August 21 and chaired by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) chairman, to review and oversee the programme’s implementation.
In Category - 2 (population between 3 and 10 lakh): Amravati secured 1st rank with score of 200 out of 200. Cash award of Rs. 75 lakh has been provided. Amravati improved road infrastructure including 340 km end-to-end pavement and carried out extensive greening in 53 gardens, and converted 19 acres of barren land into dense forest. Jhansi and Moradabad secured 2nd rank with score of 198.5 out of 200. Cash award of Rs. 25 lakh has been provided. Jhansi developed urban greening and miyawaki forests. Moradabad has worked on road infrastructure and construction and demolition waste management. Alwar secured 3rd rank with a score of 197.6 out of 200. Cash award of Rs. 25 lakh has been provided. Alwar has remediated the legacy waste dump.
In Category- 3 (population under 3 lakh): Dewas secured 1st rank with score of 193 out of 200. Cash award of Rs. 37.50 lakh has been provided. Dewas shifted industries to cleaner fuels Parwanoo secured 2nd rank with score of 191.5 out of 200. Cash award of Rs. 25 lakh has been provided. Parwanoo worked on end-to-end pavement of roads Angul secured 3rd rank with score of 191 out of 200. Cash award of Rs. 12.50 lakh has been provided. Angul also worked on road infrastructure and conducted public outreach activities.
According to the data, Noida (Uttar Pradesh) utilised just 11.14 per cent of its allocation, Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) 30.51 per cent and Delhi 32.65 per cent. Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh) spent 41.09 per cent, Jalandhar (Punjab) 43.51 per cent, Gulbarga (Karnataka) 43.7 per cent, Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) 44.12 per cent and Jamshedpur (Jharkhand) 44.24 per cent. The fund utilisation of 12 other cities and urban agglomerations, including Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh), Gaya (Bihar), Sibsagar (Assam), Durgapur (West Bengal), Kalinga Nagar (Odisha), Nalbari (Assam), Jalgaon (Maharashtra), Faridabad (Haryana), Nagpur (Maharashtra), Ranchi (Jharkhand), Hyderabad (Telangana) and Bengaluru (Karnataka), remained below 75 per cent.
Speaking at the award ceremony event on Tuesday, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav congratulated Moradabad and Agra for being 3 times winner; Indore, Jabalpur, Surat, Jhansi, Dewas, Parwanoo and Angul for being 2 times winner; and Alwar city for being the new winner. These awards were received by Mayors, District Collectors and Municipal Commissioners of respective cities. The minister announced a target of planting 75 crore saplings between September 17 and October 2. The Minister expressed the progress made through NCAP in showing improvement of air quality in PM10 levels in 103 cities out of 130 cities. He congratulated the 64 cities that have shown 20 per cent reductions in PM10 levels in 2024-25 compared to the levels of 2017-18, and he commended the 25 cities that have achieved the 40 per cent reduction mark by 2024-25 itself.
Under the NCAP, the Government has made an allocation of Rs. 20,130 crore to 130 cities. Air Quality Performance linked grant of Rs 13,237 crore has been provided to 130 cities as a critical gap funding to implement air pollution mitigation measures, during 2019-20 till date. Funding from the convergence of resources from various Central Government schemes such as Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban), AMRUT, Smart City Mission, SATAT, FAME-II, and Nagar Van Yojana is being mobilized.
The minister also announced that from next year, wards within cities will also be assessed for their air pollution control efforts, and released guidelines for this. Yadav specially congratulated Angul for maintaining air quality standards despite the presence of coal mines. He also awarded Indore and Udaipur for earning international recognition as wetland cities under the Ramsar Convention. Yadav said the number of Ramsar sites in India has increased from 25 in 2014 to 91 in 2025. “If forests are the lungs, lakes act as kidneys,” he said. He urged other cities to emulate Indore and added, “If your city’s air is bad, it will enter your lungs. Make efforts to save your cities.”