Lok Sabha Question No. 1199 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-07-28
Subject: Status of NCAP
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Shri Dhairyasheel Sambhajirao Mane, Shri Sudheer Gupta, Shri Manish Jaiswal, Shri Chavan Ravindra Vasantrao

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1199

TO BE ANSWERED ON 28.07.2025

## Status of NCAP

## 1199.  SHRI DHAIRYASHEEL SAMBHAJIRAO MANE

SHRI SUDHEER GUPTA

SHRI CHAVAN RAVINDRA VASANTRAO

SHRI MANISH JAISWAL:

Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state:

- (a) the  details  of  present  status  of  ambitious  National  Clean  Air  Programme  (NCAP) launched by the Government in the year 2019;
- (b) the total number of cities in which City Action Plan (CAP) has been implemented by the Government under NCAP since its initiation;
- (c) the extent to which it is successful in improving the air quality in the cities where CAP has been implemented;
- (d) whether the Government has signed any Memorandum of Understanding with State Governments,  civic  bodies  for  effective  implementation  of  various  multi-sectoral interventions under NCAP and if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) the details of the funds sanctioned and released by the Union Government to various State Governments for the implementation of CAP for the current financial year?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

(SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH)

(a)  to  (e): National  Clean  Air  Programme  (NCAP)  launched  by  Ministry  of  Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) in January 2019 aims to improve air quality in 130 cities (non-attainment cities and Million-Plus Cities) in 24 States/UTs. NCAP is multi-sectoral initiative involving the coordinated efforts of the Central and State Governments, Urban Local Bodies  (ULBs),  and  other  stakeholders.  It  emphasizes  source-specific  mitigation  measures through city, state, and national-level clean air action plans.

The programme leverages the mobilization of resources through various Central Government schemes- such as Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban), AMRUT, Smart City Mission, SATAT, and Nagar  Van  Yojana-  including  resources  from  State  Governments,  UT  Administrations, Municipal Corporations, and Urban Development Authorities to implement City Action Plans (CAPs). Performance based incentive grant is provided under NCAP to cities for funding the critical gap.

City specific Clean Air Action Plans have been prepared by all cities to implement air quality improvement measures in respective cities. These plans target air pollution mitigation measures addressing  various  sources  like  soil  &  road  dust,  vehicular  emissions,  waste  burning, Construction & Demolition activities, and industrial pollution.

Committees at National Level (Apex, Steering, Monitoring and Implementation), State level (Steering and Monitoring) and City level Monitoring and Implementation Committee have been constituted to coordinate, monitor, evaluate the progress and provide guidance for implementation of city action plans including utilization of funds.

MoEFCC has revised the guidelines vide letter dated 14.05.2025, and has communicated that funds provided to 82 cities are to be utilized in 5 key activities including road improvement works  for  dust  control  such  as  end-to-end  pavement  of  roads,  mechanical  road  sweeping, greening of traffic corridors, improvement of traffic junctions for decongestion, etc.

Further, MoEFCC vide Office Memorandum dated 22.05.2025 has communicated to the cities to implement City Action Plan for 100% saturation in Mission mode by leveraging resources through convergence with the Central & State Govt. Schemes, funds allocated under NCAP and their own resources.

The memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed among the Urban Local Bodies (ULB), State Governments and MoEF&CC for all 48 Million-Plus cities/Urban Agglomerations.  Also,  MoUs  have  been  signed  among  Central  Pollution  Control  Board (CPCB), State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs)/ Pollution Control Committees (PCCs) and ULBs for remaining 82 Non-Attainment Cities (NACs) identified under NCAP. These MoUs detail  out  the  roles  and  responsibilities  of  stakeholders  for  the  effective  implementation  of various multi-sectoral interventions under NCAP.

Out of 130 cities, 48 Million-Plus Cities/ Urban Agglomerations are funded under 15 th Finance Commission  Million-Plus  City  Challenge  Fund  as  an  air  quality  performance  grant,  and remaining 82 cities are funded under Control of Pollution Scheme of MoEFCC. Performance linked grant of Rs. 13,036.52 crore has been provided to 130 cities as critical gap funding to implement  air  quality  improvement  measures.  State-wise  details  of  funds  sanctioned  and released under NCAP are provided at Annexure I.

The focused actions by 130 cities under NCAP have shown positive results with 103 cities showing reduction in PM10 concentration in 2024-25 with respect to 2017-18, out of which 64 cities have shown reduction in PM10 levels by more than 20% with respect to base year 201718 and 25 of these cities have achieved a reduction of more than 40%. A total of 22 Cities have met National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) and have PM10 Concentrations less than 60 µg/m 3 . Details of air quality improvement in cities covered under NCAP is placed at Annexure II.

Annexure I Details of State Wise sanction & release under NCAP & XVFC air quality grants

(Amount in Rs. crore)

| S. No.   | State            |   Funds sanctioned and released during 2019- 20 to 2024-25 | Funds allocated in 2025-26   |   Funds released in FY 2025-26 |
|----------|------------------|------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------|--------------------------------|
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh   |                                                     361.09 | 126.16                       |                          23.08 |
| 2        | Assam            |                                                      70.66 | 38.06                        |                          19.04 |
| 3        | Bihar            |                                                     328.11 | 143.67                       |                          41.23 |
| 4        | Chandigarh       |                                                      32.81 | 10.56                        |                           5.28 |
| 5        | Chhattisgarh     |                                                     295.64 | 69.07                        |                           4.78 |
| 6        | Delhi            |                                                      42.69 | 38.67                        |                          19.34 |
| 7        | Gujarat          |                                                    1262.42 | 241.00                       |                          20.56 |
| 8        | Haryana          |                                                      94.53 | 29.00                        |                          12.61 |
| 9        | Himachal Pradesh |                                                      17.5  | 5.34                         |                           2.67 |
| 10       | Jammu &Kashmir   |                                                     115.95 | 72.05                        |                          36.02 |
| 11       | Jharkhand        |                                                     279.44 | 95.00                        |                           0    |
| 12       | Karnataka        |                                                     597.52 | 194.41                       |                          14.2  |
| 13       | Madhya Pradesh   |                                                     767.04 | 207.21                       |                          53    |
| 14       | Maharashtra      |                                                    1754.4  | 512.45                       |                          20.22 |
| 15       | Meghalaya        |                                                       7.95 | 4.21                         |                           2.1  |
| 16       | Nagaland         |                                                      20    | 11.13                        |                           5.56 |
| 17       | Odisha           |                                                      74.61 | 32.93                        |                          16.46 |
| 18       | Punjab           |                                                     298.3  | 105.85                       |                          27.47 |
| 19       | Rajasthan        |                                                     661.25 | 181.15                       |                          19.13 |
| 20       | Tamilnadu        |                                                     641.91 | 144.81                       |                          10.33 |
| 21       | Telangana        |                                                     726.33 | 143.73                       |                          11.47 |
| 22       | Uttar Pradesh    |                                                    2591.78 | 704.52                       |                         231.2  |
| 23       | Uttrakhand       |                                                      68.27 | 34.70                        |                          17.35 |
| 24       | West Bengal      |                                                    1278.53 | 276.32                       |                          34.68 |
|          | Total            |                                                   12388.7  | 3422*                        |                         647.79 |

## *Note:

1. Rs. 2621 crore has been allocated for 48 Million-plus cities/ Urban Agglomerations under 15 th Finance Commission grants for the FY 2025-26.
2.  Rs.  801.00  crore  has  been  sanctioned  in  FY  2025-26  of which  Rs.  400.5  crore  has  been released.

## Annexure-II

## Improvement in PM10 concentrations of cities under NCAP in FY 2024-25 w.r.t. FY 2017-18

|   S. No. | Improvement in PM 10 in 2024-25 w.r.t FY 2017-18 (%)   |   No. of Cities | Cities                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
|----------|--------------------------------------------------------|-----------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | 40 &above                                              |              25 | Gujarat (2): Rajkot, Surat; Himachal Pradesh (1): Nalagarh; Jammu & Kashmir (1): Srinagar; Jharkhand (1): Dhanbad; Maharashtra (3): Badlapur, Greater Mumbai, Ulhasnagar; Meghalaya (1): Byrnihat; Nagaland (1): Kohima; Punjab (2): Amritsar, Jalandhar; Tamil Nadu (1): Tuticorin; Uttar Pradesh (11): Agra, Allahabad, Bareilly, Firozabad, Ghaziabad, Jhansi, Kanpur, Lucknow, Moradabad, Raebareli, Varanasi; Uttarakhand (1): Dehradun                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           |
|        2 | 20-40                                                  |              39 | Andhra Pradesh (6): Ananthpur, Kadapa, Kurnool, Nellore, Rajahmundry, Vijayawada; Assam (2): Nagaon, Sivasagar; Gujarat (2): Ahmedabad, Vadodara; Haryana (1): Faridabad; Himachal Pradesh (4): Baddi, Kala Amb, Parwanoo, Sunder Nagar; Jammu & Kashmir (1): Jammu; Jharkhand (1): Ranchi; Karnataka (3): Bengaluru, Devanagere, Hubli-Dharwad; Madhya Pradesh (1): Jabalpur; Maharashtra (3): Akola, Amravati; Thane Nagaland (1): Dimapur; Punjab (4): Dera Baba Nanak, Khanna, Ludhiana, Naya Nangal; Rajasthan (2): Alwar, Jodhpur; Tamil Nadu (1): Trichy; Telangana (1): Hyderabad; Uttar Pradesh (3): Gajraula, Gorakhpur, Noida; Uttarakhand (1): Rishikesh; West Bengal (2): Howrah, Kolkata |
|        3 | <20                                                    |              39 | Andhra Pradesh (4): Chitur, Eluru, Guntur, Ongole; Assam (2): Guwahati, Nalbari; Bihar (2): Muzaffarpur, Patna; Chhattisgarh (1): Durg-Bhilainagar; Delhi (1): Delhi; Himachal Pradesh (1): Paonta Sahib; Karnataka (1): Gulbarga/Kalaburgi; Madhya Pradesh (3): Bhopal, Gwalior, Ujjain; Maharashtra (9): Chandrapur, Jalna, Kolhapur, Latur, Nagpur, Nashik, Pune, Sangli, Vasai-Virar; Odisha (1): Cuttack; Punjab (2): Mandi-Gobindgarh, Patiala; Rajasthan (3): Jaipur, Kota, Udaipur; Tamil Nadu (2): Chennai, Madurai; Uttar Pradesh (3): Anpara, Khurja, Meerut; Uttarakhand (1): Kashipur; West Bengal (3): Asansol, Durgapur, Haldia                                                         |
|        4 | Cities meeting NAAQS                                   |              22 | Andhra Pradesh (7): Ananthpur, Chittur, Kadapa, Kurnool, Nellore, Ongole, Rajamuhndary; Assam (2): Silchar, Sivasagar; Himachal Pradesh (3): Damtal, Parwanoo, Sunder Nagar; Karnataka (2): Devanagere, Gulburga / Kalaburgi; Punjab (2): Dera Baba Nanak, Naya Nangal; Tamil Nadu (3): Chennai, Trichy, Tuticorin; Uttar Pradesh (3): Bareily, Jhansi, Varanasi                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |