Indore, Jabalpur, Agra, and Surat lead nation for best air quality

Over ₹1.55 Lakh crore mobilized for clean air and green infrastructure in 130 indian cities

New Delhi: In a landmark recognition of India’s fight against air pollution, Indore, Jabalpur, Agra, and Surat have emerged as the top-performing cities in the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) Awards 2025, announced on Tuesday by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).

These cities have been lauded for achieving the most significant improvements in air quality among 131 non-attainment cities targeted under NCAP, which was launched in 2019 to reduce PM10 and PM2.5 levels by 20-30% by 2024-25, using 2017 as the base year.

In Category-1 (population of over 10 lakh) Indore secured 1st rank with score of 200 out of 200. 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. 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. 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% green cover.

In Category – 2 (population between 3 and 10 lakh) Amravati secured 1st rank, Jhansi and Moradabad secured 2nd rank, Alwar secured 3rd rank.

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 developed urban greening and miyawaki forests. Moradabad has worked on road infrastructure and construction and demolition waste management, while Alwar has remediated the legacy waste dump.

In Category- 3 (population under 3 lakh), Dewas secured 1st rank, Parwanoo secured 2nd rank and Angul secured 3rd rank.

Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav lauded the winning cities, stating that their achievements demonstrate the effectiveness of NCAP as a cooperative federal initiative.

“These cities have set benchmarks in reducing pollution through people’s participation, technology, and stringent enforcement. Their success stories will inspire other urban centres to follow suit,” he said.

The awards are part of a larger national strategy under NCAP, launched in 2019, which aims to achieve a 40% reduction in PM10 concentrations in non-attainment cities by 2026. Funding support, technical guidance and performance-based incentives have been key elements driving these improvements.

Under the National Clean Air Programme, Govternment has made an allocation of Rs. 20,130 crore to 130 cities. Air Quality Performance linked grant of ₹ 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.

The Minister has congratulated the two cities, namely Indore and Udaipur, for being recognised as Wetland Cities under Ramsar Convention. He has handed over the certificates issued by Ramsar Convention Secretariat to the Mayors and District Collectors of these cities

Wetland City Accreditation scheme has been introduced by the Ramsar Convention and the scheme recognizes cities which have taken exceptional steps to safeguard their urban wetlands.

India is a party to Ramsar Convention on wetlands and has now 91 wetlands with 1.36 million hectares, recognized as Ramsar sites, the highest number in Asia and the third-highest globally.