Lok Sabha Question No. 2350 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-08-04
Subject: Funds for Andhra Pradesh under NCAP
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Shri Appalanaidu Kalisetti

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2350

TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.08.2025

## Funds for Andhra Pradesh under NCAP

## 2350.  SHRI APPALANAIDU KALISETTI:

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

- (a) the  names  of  cities  in  Andhra  Pradesh  covered  under  the  National  Clean  Air Programme (NCAP) and the Control of Pollution Scheme, along with the year of their inclusion;
- (b) the total funds allocated, released and utilised by each of these cities under NCAP and the Control of Pollution Scheme including details of projects undertaken since their inclusion, year and city-wise including Visakhapatnam;
- (c) the  current  status  of  implementation  of  city-level  Clean  Air  Action  Plans  in  these cities, including measurable progress made in reducing PM10 or PM 2.5 levels, citywise including Visakhapatnam;
- (d) whether any performance-linked grants have been disbursed to Andhra Pradesh cities under the 15th Finance Commission's Million Plus City Challenge Fund (MPCCF) and if so, the details thereof along with the criteria and performance benchmarks used in determining such disbursement, city-wise including Visakhapatnam;
- (e) whether  the  Ministry  has  conducted  any  assessment  of  barriers  faced  by  cities  in Andhra Pradesh in accessing or utilising NCAP funds and the corrective measures suggested or taken in this regard;
- (f) whether the Government is aware that Visakhapatnam has recorded a 58 per cent rise in annual PM10 concentrations during the last five years and if so, the key factors identified for the same along with the measures being undertaken by the Government to strengthen local air quality management in the said city; and
- (g) the status of any pending proposal from local or State authorities seeking additional funding or revised action plans?

## ANSWER

MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH)

(a) to (g) 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.

A total of 13 cities of Andhra Pradesh have been included out of which 11 cities (Anantapur, Chittoor, Eluru, Guntur, Kadapa, Kurnool, Nellore, Ongole, Rajahmundry Srikakulam and Vizianagaram)  are  funded  under  Control  of  Pollution  Scheme  of  MoEFCC  and  02  cities (Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam) are funded under 15 th  Finance Commission Million-Plus City Challenge Fund as an air quality performance grant.

Under NCAP, a total of ₹734.86 crore has been allocated to 13 cities of Andhra Pradesh during FY 2019-20 till FY 2025-26. An amount of ₹384.17 crore has been released and ₹195.19 crore has been utilised so far. Details of funds allocation, release and utilisation of 13 targeted cities of Andhra Pradesh are enclosed at Annexure I.

The programme leverages mobilisation of resources through convergence of various schemes of Central & State Governments such as Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban), AMRUT, Smart City Mission, PM e-Bus Sewa, Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT), and Nagar Van Yojana, as well as resources of State Govts. / UT administration, Municipal Corporations and other developmental authorities for implementation of action plans.

Further, MoEFCC has recommended to Department of Expenditure (DoE) for release of an amount of Rs. 67.54 crore as part of 15 th Finance Commission air quality grants for FY 202425. The said amount could not be released to Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam due to pending compliance from the State Govt. in respect of fulfilling the pre-requisites of DoE guidelines dated 10.08.2021 including notification of floor rates for property tax with growth in property tax in line with simple average growth rate of the State's own GSDP in the recent five years. Ministry has communicated to the State Government to submit the compliance to access the funds. Criteria for providing funds to Million-Plus cities have been provided in Annexure II.

City specific Clean Air Action Plans have been prepared by all cities of Andhra Pradesh 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.

MoEFCC has revised the guidelines vide letter dated 14.05.2025, and has communicated that funds  provided  to  the  cities  are  to  be  utilized  in  5  key  activities  including,  (i)  road improvement works for dust control such as end-to-end pavement of roads and mechanical road sweeping, (ii) greening of open areas and traffic corridors, (iii) improvement of traffic junctions for decongestion, (iv) air pollution control measures in crematoriums, and (v) mass awareness and public outreach.

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.

Air  quality  improvement  measures  undertaken  in  the  cities  of  Andhra  Pradesh  including Visakhapatnam is enclosed at Annexure III.

Status of air quality improvement of 13 cities of Andhra Pradesh is provided at Annexure IV.

CPCB Nodal  Officers  have  conducted  field  verification  of  implementation  of  city  action plans.  Further,  based  on  the  source  apportionment study conducted in Visakhapatnam major sources of the particulate matter pollution include resuspension/ road/soil dust, traffic/vehicular emissions, bulk material handling and biomass usage as fuel. Further, presence of Red category industries and unfavourable dispersion conditions due to unique geographical conditions forming bowl area surrounded by mountains on three side and ocean on the other side has led to higher air pollution levels.

State Pollution Control Board has issued directions to air polluting industries to meet the emission norms along with implementation of the other air pollution control measures. Further municipal corporations have been directed to implement the city action plans in a time bound manner.

***

## Annexure I

## Details of allocation, release and utilization of funds in 13 cities of Andhra Pradesh under NCAP during FY 2019-20 till FY 2025-26 (as on 30.07.2025)

(Amount in Rs. Crore)

| Sr. No   | State          | City                                                            | Allocation                                                      | Total released                                                  | Total utilised                                                  | % Utilisation                                                   |
|----------|----------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
|          | Andhra Pradesh | Cities funded under Control of Pollution Scheme of MoEFCC       | Cities funded under Control of Pollution Scheme of MoEFCC       | Cities funded under Control of Pollution Scheme of MoEFCC       | Cities funded under Control of Pollution Scheme of MoEFCC       | Cities funded under Control of Pollution Scheme of MoEFCC       |
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh | Anantapur                                                       | 24.41                                                           | 13.85                                                           | 8.77                                                            | 63%                                                             |
| 2        | Andhra Pradesh | Chittoor                                                        | 11.85                                                           | 7.20375                                                         | 5.32                                                            | 74%                                                             |
| 3        | Andhra Pradesh | Eluru                                                           | 13.07                                                           | 5.82                                                            | 4.61                                                            | 79%                                                             |
| 4        | Andhra Pradesh | Guntur                                                          | 26.18                                                           | 18.8                                                            | 16.67                                                           | 89%                                                             |
| 5        | Andhra Pradesh | Kadapa                                                          | 20.21                                                           | 11.325                                                          | 7.76                                                            | 69%                                                             |
| 6        | Andhra Pradesh | Kurnool                                                         | 23.92                                                           | 10.5325                                                         | 6.07                                                            | 58%                                                             |
| 7        | Andhra Pradesh | Nellore                                                         | 47.29                                                           | 26.175                                                          | 24.07                                                           | 92%                                                             |
| 8        | Andhra Pradesh | Ongole                                                          | 17.19                                                           | 10.05875                                                        | 7.86                                                            | 78%                                                             |
| 9        | Andhra Pradesh | Rajahmundry                                                     | 20.59                                                           | 8.71                                                            | 8.24                                                            | 95%                                                             |
| 10       | Andhra Pradesh | Srikakulam                                                      | 7.78                                                            | 5.245                                                           | 3.89                                                            | 74%                                                             |
| 11       | Andhra Pradesh | Vizianagaram                                                    | 10.25                                                           | 6.73                                                            | 5.29                                                            | 79%                                                             |
|          | Andhra Pradesh | Cities funded under 15 th Finance Commission Air quality grants | Cities funded under 15 th Finance Commission Air quality grants | Cities funded under 15 th Finance Commission Air quality grants | Cities funded under 15 th Finance Commission Air quality grants | Cities funded under 15 th Finance Commission Air quality grants |
| 12       | Andhra Pradesh | Vijayawada                                                      | 238                                                             | 130.35                                                          | 57.09                                                           | 44%                                                             |
| 13       | Andhra Pradesh | Visakhapatnam                                                   | 274.12                                                          | 129.37                                                          | 39.55                                                           | 31%                                                             |
| Total    | Total          | Total                                                           | 734.86                                                          | 384.17                                                          | 195.19                                                          | 51%                                                             |

## Criteria for providing funds to Million-Plus cities

As per DoE Guidelines, the assessment of city performance on air quality to be based on following four parameters:

## A. Strengthening of the pollution monitoring mechanism

-  Operationalization of AQM Cell.
-  IT enabled air quality data management system.
-  Coordination Committee reviews including progress and review of city action plans, public grievance redressal portal, emergency response and awareness programme.

## B. Source-wise cause analysis for air pollution

-  Air  quality  profiling  to  identify  suitable  locations  for  AQ  monitoring  stations including hotspots.
-  Source apportionment study and establishment of a robust emission inventory and tracking system.
-  Development of IT based emission inventory system.

## C. Progress on action plans and compliance of statutory guidelines

-  Implementation and updation of action plans.
-  Monitoring of PUC for vehicles.
-  Infrastructure planning and set up of (CAAQMS) / (manual AQMS).

## D. Quantification of air quality improvement

-  Reduction in air pollution levels (particulate matter).
-  Frequency of exceedance in AQI levels.

## D (i) Reduction in air pollution levels (particulate matter)

## Table A - PM10 Annual Average Concentration

|   S. No. | Reduction (%) in annual average concentration   | Improvement   |
|----------|-------------------------------------------------|---------------|
|        1 | 15 and above                                    | High          |
|        2 | <15                                             | Low           |

D (ii) Frequency of exceedance in AQI levels: The number of days exceeding AQI (Moderate - 200) out of total number of normal days monitored per year would be graded as under: Table B - Good days (AQI<200)

|   S. No. | Increase in Good days (%)   | Improvement   |
|----------|-----------------------------|---------------|
|        1 | 15 and above                | High          |
|        2 | <15                         | Low           |

Based on grading in Table 'A' and Table 'B' above, the combined performance factor for Air Quality Management would be graded and evaluated for the cities/ UAs as per following procedure:

Table C: Fund allocation to cities (Performance based)

|   S. No. | Reduction (%) in annual average concentration (from Table A)   | Increase in Good days (%) (from Table B)   |   Performance Factor, S D |
|----------|----------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|---------------------------|
|        1 | High                                                           | High                                       |                       100 |
|        2 | Low                                                            | High                                       |                        75 |
|        3 | High                                                           | Low                                        |                        50 |
|        4 | Low                                                            | Low                                        |                        25 |

| Score of the city (S)   | Percentage of Fund allocation from 2021-22 onwards   |
|-------------------------|------------------------------------------------------|
| 80-100                  | 100                                                  |
| 60-80                   | 75                                                   |
| 50-60                   | 50                                                   |
| 40-50                   | 25                                                   |
| Below 40                | NIL                                                  |

Relative  weightage  for  City  Performance  Assessment  The  performance  matrics determining the release of Ambient Air Quality Grant to Million-Plus Cities (MPCs) for the Financial Years 2021-22 and for further years is in Table E below:

Table D: Relative weightage for City Performance Assessment

| Parameter 2021                                                     |   2021-22 | 2022- 23   | 2023-24   | 2024- 25   | 2025-26   |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------|------------|-----------|------------|-----------|
| A. Strengthening of pollution monitoring mechanism                 |        10 | -          | -         | -          | -         |
| B. Source-wise Cause Analysis for Air pollution                    |        10 | -          | -         | -          | -         |
| C. Progress on Action plans and Compliance of Statutory guidelines |        10 | -          | -         | -          | -         |
| D. Quantification and evaluation of Air Quality Improvements       |        70 | 100        | 100       | 100        | 100       |
| Total                                                              |       100 | 100        | 100       | 100        | 100       |

Annexure III Details of activities undertaken in 13 targeted cities of Andhra Pradesh

|   S. No. | Activities                                        | Unit        |   Physical Progress |
|----------|---------------------------------------------------|-------------|---------------------|
|        1 | End-to-end pavement and widening of roads         | km          |              2883   |
|        2 | Development of green spaces                       | acres       |               110   |
|        3 | Greening along traffic corridors                  | km          |              1153.8 |
|        4 | Mechanical Road sweeping                          | km/day      |               979   |
|        5 | Crematoriums switched to cleaner fuels            | no.         |                10   |
|        6 | Junctions Improvement                             | no.         |                93   |
|        7 | Solid waste processing plant                      | TPD         |               596   |
|        8 | Solid waste collection and transportation systems | TPD         |              1621   |
|        9 | Legacy waste remediation                          | Lakh tonnes |                12.5 |
|       10 | Processing of C &Dwaste                           | TPD         |                63   |
|       11 | EV charging stations                              | No.         |                45   |

## Details of activities undertaken in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh

|   Sl. No. | Name of Activity                       | Unit        |   Quantity |
|-----------|----------------------------------------|-------------|------------|
|         1 | End-to end pavement of Roads           | km          |      26.94 |
|         2 | Development of green spaces            | km          |       0.85 |
|         3 | Greening of traffic corridors          | km          |      13.8  |
|         4 | Mechanical Road sweeping               | km/day      |     320    |
|         5 | Solid Waste collection& transportation | TPD         |     180    |
|         6 | Legacy waste remediation               | Lakh tonnes |       2.5  |
|         7 | Improvement of traffic junctions       | no.         |      19    |

## Annexure IV Improvement in PM10 concentrations of 13 Cities of Andhra Pradesh under NCAP in

## FY 2024-25 w.r.t. FY 2017-18

| Sl. No.   |                | Cities        | 2017-2018                                       | 2024-25                                         | % improvement in 2024-25 w.r.t. FY 2017-18   |
|-----------|----------------|---------------|-------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------|
| Sl. No.   |                | Cities        | Average concentration (F.Y.) of PM 10 (µg/m 3 ) | Average concentration (F.Y.) of PM 10 (µg/m 3 ) | % improvement in 2024-25 w.r.t. FY 2017-18   |
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh | Rajahmundry   | 85                                              | 59                                              | 30.6                                         |
| 2         | Andhra Pradesh | Vijayawada    | 91                                              | 64                                              | 29.7                                         |
| 3         | Andhra Pradesh | Kadapa        | 75                                              | 56                                              | 25.3                                         |
| 4         | Andhra Pradesh | Kurnool       | 79                                              | 60                                              | 24.1                                         |
| 5         | Andhra Pradesh | Anantapur     | 78                                              | 60                                              | 23.1                                         |
| 6         | Andhra Pradesh | Nellore       | 64                                              | 51                                              | 20.3                                         |
| 7         | Andhra Pradesh | Chittoor      | 70                                              | 60                                              | 14.3                                         |
| 8         | Andhra Pradesh | Eluru         | 72                                              | 64                                              | 11.1                                         |
| 9         | Andhra Pradesh | Ongole        | 65                                              | 58                                              | 10.8                                         |
| 10        | Andhra Pradesh | Guntur        | 66                                              | 64                                              | 3.0                                          |
| 11        | Andhra Pradesh | Vizianagaram  | 72                                              | 74                                              | -2.8                                         |
| 12        | Andhra Pradesh | Srikakulam    | 69                                              | 79                                              | -14.5                                        |
| 13        | Andhra Pradesh | Visakhapatnam | 76                                              | 101                                             | -32.9                                        |

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