Lok Sabha Question No. 233 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-02-02
Subject: National Clean Air Programme
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Smt. Sanjna Jatav, Smt. Roopkumari Choudhary

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 233

TO BE ANSWERED ON 02.02.2026

## National Clean Air Programme

## 233.      SMT. ROOPKUMARI CHOUDHARY:

SMT. SANJNA JATAV:

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

- (a) the  details  of  objectives  of  the  National  Clean  Air  Programme  (NCAP)  along  with  the number of cities targeted thereunder and the timeframe fixed therein;
- (b) the number of non-attainment cities identified under the NCAP 2019 along with the number of cities wherein approved City Action Plans have been implemented;
- (c) the number of cities or towns which are still outside the purview of NCAP or any approved plan and the reasons therefor;
- (d) whether the Government is aware that a major portion of the NCAP funds has been utilised on  short-term  measures  such  as  Road  dust  control,  Mechanical  sweeping  and  Water sprinkling;
- (e) the  reasons  for  long-term  measure  such  as  industrial  emission  control,  clean  energy, transportation  and  awareness  campaign  getting  lower  priority  along  with  the  remedial measures taken by the Government to correct the said imbalance;
- (f) the policy and timeline for including PM2.5 in monitoring and target setting; and
- (g) the major achievements accomplished so far under the NCAP and the details of monitoring, performance evaluation, penalty and incentive mechanism in force through the Portal for Regulation of Air-pollution in Non-Attainment cities (PRANA) portal?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (c) : National Clean Air Programme was launched by Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change  in 2019 with an aim to improve air quality in 130 cities (Non-Attainment and Million-Plus cities) in 24 States/UTs through implementation of National, State and City level action plans by engaging all stakeholders, for the period 2019-20 to 2025-26.

Under NCAP, 130 cities have been identified based on the criteria of Non-Attainment of Air Quality Standards and cities with Million plus population. Out of the said 130 cities, 122 Cities are identified as non-attainment cities. As per the data furnished by cities in PRANA portal, all cities have prepared City Action Plans (CAPs) for implementing air quality control measures.

(d) & (e): Funding under NCAP is a critical gap funding. In addition funding for implementation of City Action Plans (CAPs) is mobilized through the convergence  of resources from various Central Government schemes. Action plan under NCAP consists of implementation of different measures, which also involves short term as well as long-term measures like end-to-end pavement of  road,  greenery  development,  greening  of  open  areas,  plans  to  decongest  traffic  corridors, development  of  urban  micro  forest  including  Miyawaki  plantation,  improvement  of  traffic junctions for decongestion, conversion of crematorium towards clean fuels, establishment of EV Charging  Stations.  Moreover,  guidelines  issued  under  NCAP  for  funding  under  Air  Quality Challenge Method promotes establishment of C&D and solid Waste processing plants, material recovery facilities, Automated Testing Station, Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facilities.

Further,  one  of  the  key  activities  identified  under  NCAP  emphasize  on  IEC  activities  and awareness generation through MY Bharat portal and also other outreach activities like plastic free initiatives, tree plantation, foster public awareness through multiple platforms like DISHA, My Bharat, World Environment Day, Swachh Vayu Diwas, Air Pollution Awareness Week etc.

City  action  plans  have  incorporated  the  Mission  LiFE  activities  for  providing  awareness  to citizens including  involvement of youth through 'Meri Yuva Bharat' portal of Department of Youth Affairs.

As per the findings of various source apportionment studies undertaken by Cities, road dust has been identified as one of the major contributors to PM10 concentrations and hence, many cities have undertaken focused measures to control road dust emissions.

(f): NCAP focuses on PM10, however as a subset of PM10, PM2.5 is inherently addressed through the  broader  regulatory  framework  and  implementation  strategy  aimed  at  reducing  particulate matter levels overall. A wide range of targeted actions to address all sources of PM2.5 emissions has been included in the Clean Air City Action Plans.

(g): 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, 64 cities have shown reduction in PM10 levels by more than 20% with respect to base year 2017-18 and 25 of these cities have achieved a reduction of more than 40%. A total of 22 Cities have met NAAQS and have PM10 Concentrations less than 60 µg/m 3 . Air quality improvement details in 130 cities are enclosed at Annexure-I.

To ensure monitoring and performance evaluation of the scheme, NCAP consists of structured monitoring  mechanism    at  different  level  like  Steering,  Monitoring,  and  Implementation Committees at the National level  (Apex  Committee under Chairmanship of Hon'ble Minister, EFCC), State (under Chairmanship of Chief Secretary), and District/City levels (Implementation and Monitoring Committee) under the Chairmanship of District Collector/Municipal Commissioner.

Further,  NCAP  has  also  been  brought  under  the  purview  of  State  and  District-level  DISHA Committees, enhancing accountability and convergence. Further, to provide overall guidance and coordination  for  implementation  of  the  National  Action  Plan  under  the  National  Clean  Air Programme (NCAP) through convergence of schemes and programs of Central Government and State Government, Urban Local Bodies and other development authorities/agencies, a National

Coordination  Committee  has  been  constituted  by  MoEFCC  in  July,  2025.  These  committees periodically monitor and evaluate the progress of implementation of action plans.

Moreover, a comprehensive web-based portal, PRANA (Portal for Regulation of Air-pollution in Non-Attainment  cities)  has  been  operationalized  for  program  management,  monitoring,  and implementation of NCAP.  PRANA portal captures both physical progress (such as clean air action plan  proposed,  number  of  activities  completed,  meetings  held)  and  financial  progress  (funds allocation, released and utilized) across all 130 cities.

As an incentive mechanism, under NCAP, cities receive performance-linked grants to implement their action plans based on their achievements during preceding year. Further, better-performing cities are appreciated and recognized every year through awards under different categories, during Swach Vayu Sarvekshan celebration ceremony.

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## AIR QUALITY IMPROVEMENT IN 130 CITIES

|   S. No. | Improvement in PM 10 in 2024-25 w.r.t FY 2017-18 (%)   |   No. of Cities | Cities                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
|----------|--------------------------------------------------------|-----------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | Above 40                                               |              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 | Above 10 to less than 20                               |              20 | Andhra Pradesh (3): Chittoor, Eluru, Ongole; Bihar (1): Muzaffarpur; Chhattisgarh (1): Durg-Bhilainagar; Delhi (1): Delhi; Madhya Pradesh (1): Ujjain; Maharashtra (2): Latur, Sangli; Punjab (2): Mandi-Gobindgarh, Patiala; Rajasthan (2): Jaipur, Kota; Tamil Nadu (2): Chennai, Madurai; Uttar Pradesh (3): Anpara, Khurja, Meerut; West Bengal (2): Asansol, Haldia                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
|        4 | Less than 10                                           |              19 | Andhra Pradesh (1): Guntur; Assam (2): Guwahati, Nalbari; Bihar (1): Patna; Himachal Pradesh (1): Paonta Sahib; Karnataka (1): Gulbarga/Kalaburgi; Madhya Pradesh (2): Bhopal, Gwalior; Maharashtra (7): Chandrapur, Jalna, Kolhapur, Nagpur, Nashik, Pune, Vasai-Virar; Odisha (1): Cuttack; Rajasthan (1): Udaipur; Uttarakhand (1): Kashipur; West Bengal (1): Durgapur                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
|        5 | Nil                                                    |              27 | Andhra Pradesh (3): Srikakulam, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram; Assam (1): Silchar; Bihar (1): Gaya; Chandigarh (1): Chandigarh; Chhattisgarh (2): Korba, Raipur; Himachal Pradesh (1): Damtal; Jharkhand (1): Jamshedpur; Madhya Pradesh (3): Dewas, Indore, Sagar; Maharashtra (4): Aurangabad, Jalgaon, Navi Mumbai, Solapur; Odisha (6): Angul, Balasore, Bhubaneswar, Kalinga Nagar, Rourkela, Talcher; Punjab (1): Dera Bassi; Telangana (2): Nalgonda, Sangareddy; West Bengal (1): Barrackpore                                                                                                                                                                                                    |