Lok Sabha Question No. 386 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-02-02
Subject: Performance of the National Clean Air Programme
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Shri V K Sreekandan, Shri Manickam Tagore B, Shri Suresh Kumar Shetkar, Shri Vijayakumar Alias Vijay Vasanth

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 386

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 02.02.2026

## Performance of the National Clean Air Programme

## 386.        SHRI SURESH KUMAR SHETKAR: SHRI MANICKAM TAGORE B: SHRI VIJAYAKUMAR ALIAS VIJAY VASANTH: SHRI V K SREEKANDAN:

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

- (a) whether the Government project, National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) as effective even when 1,787 towns facing chronic air pollution, yet only 130 cities are covered, leaving the vast majority of affected populations outside policy intervention;
- (b) whether the Government accept air pollution as a nationwide structural public health crisis, and if so, the reasons behind NCAP currently address barely four percent of chronically polluted statutory towns;
- (c) the  reasons  for  28  NCAP  cities  still  lack  Continuous Ambient Air  Quality  Monitoring Stations, despite monitoring being fundamental for scientific assessment, accountability, and protection of citizens' health;
- (d) whether  100  out  of  102  monitored  cities  report  PM10  levels  exceeding  80  per  cent  of permissible limits, showing persistent and worsening pollution trends, if so, the reaction of the Government thereto; and
- (e) whether  the  Government  has  failed  to  officially  declare  air  pollution  a  public  health emergency despite satellite data showing sustained PM2.5 violations across forty-four per cent of India's statutory towns, if so, the action taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (e): Government of India has launched the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) in 2019 as a long-term, time-bound, national-level strategy to address air pollution in 130 cities across 24 States/UTs. A total of 130 cities, including 122 non-attainment cities that failed to meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for PM10 levels for five consecutive years (2015-2019), and 8 million-plus cities and urban agglomeration areas. These 130 cities include Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities across 24 States/UTs.

City  Specific  Clean Air  Action  Plans  have  been  prepared  for  all  130  cities  under  NCAP  to implement air quality improvement measures in respective cities to target air pollution sources like soil & road dust, vehicular emissions, waste burning, Construction & Demolition activities and industrial pollution.

Performance linked grant of ₹ 13,852.20 crore has been released to 130 cities under National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) as a critical gap funding to implement air pollution mitigation measures, since 2019-20 till date.

In  addition  to  this,  NCAP  emphasizes  mobilization  of  resources  through  the  convergence  of resources from various Central Government schemes such as Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban), AMRUT, Smart City Mission, PM e-Bus Sewa, PM E-DRIVE, SATAT, and Nagar Van Yojana, as well as resources from State Govts./ UT administration and agencies like Municipal Corporations and Urban Development authorities. Various Ministries/Departments of Govt. of India provide funding under their Schemes/ Programmes as per their budgets.

To tackle air pollution in emergencies, Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) for Delhi-NCR has been prepared, which provides set of emergency response actions, depending on severity of air pollution levels, and implemented by identified agencies for minimizing air pollution in the DelhiNCR during the peak winter months.

Emergency Response System (ERS) in line with Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) of DelhiNCR, has been developed in identified non-attainment/ million plus cities under NCAP. The higher emission  zones/hotspots  within  the  city  have  been  identified  and  detailed  action  plan  for  the identified sources in these hotspots have been prepared.

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, issued 'Health Advisory on Air Pollution' to all States/UTs for  strengthening  health  care  services  to  address  health  issues  arising  due  to  exposure  to  air pollution.

CPCB issued criteria for establishing and operation of Ambient Air Quality Monitoring stations. Accordingly,  1601  monitoring  stations  (566  Continuous  Ambient  Air  Quality  Monitoring Stations  and  1035  Manual  monitoring  stations)  have  been  installed  in  583  cities  across  the country. PM2.5 monitoring is carried out in more than 492 cities. In 130 cities covered under NCAP, 838 monitoring stations are operational for collection of ambient air quality data as well as  air  assessment  of  quality  performance  of  cities.  In  28  NCAP  cities  where  continuous monitoring stations are not available, 82 ambient air quality stations are functional and ground level air quality data is monitored regularly by CPCB and SPCBs.

Air quality data collection through satellite technology has inherent limitations and uncertainties and lacks ground level validation. Satellites Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) measurements are only indicative of aerosol loading in the entire atmospheric column and could be influenced by upper aerosol  layers  and  cloud  contaminations  and  do  not  accurately  measure  the  real  ground  level PM2.5 concentrations.

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% 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/m3. Air quality details of 130 cities under NCAP, are enclosed at Annexure -I.

****

## Annexure I

| States                  |   Sl. No. | Cities           |   Average of PM 10 (µg/m 3 ) concentration for FY2017- 18 |   Average of PM 10 (µg/m 3 ) concentration for FY2024- 25 |   %improvement in PM 10 (µg/m 3 ) concentration in FY 2024-25 w.r.t. FY2017-18 |
|-------------------------|-----------|------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Andhra Pradesh          |         1 | Ananthpur        |                                                        78 |                                                        60 |                                                                           23.1 |
| Andhra Pradesh          |         2 | Chittoor         |                                                        70 |                                                        60 |                                                                           14.3 |
| Andhra Pradesh          |         3 | Eluru            |                                                        72 |                                                        64 |                                                                           11.1 |
| Andhra Pradesh          |         4 | Guntur           |                                                        66 |                                                        64 |                                                                            3   |
| Andhra Pradesh          |         5 | Kadapa           |                                                        75 |                                                        56 |                                                                           25.3 |
| Andhra Pradesh          |         6 | Kurnool          |                                                        79 |                                                        60 |                                                                           24.1 |
| Andhra Pradesh          |         7 | Nellore          |                                                        64 |                                                        51 |                                                                           20.3 |
| Andhra Pradesh          |         8 | Ongole           |                                                        65 |                                                        58 |                                                                           10.8 |
| Andhra Pradesh          |         9 | Rajahmundry      |                                                        85 |                                                        59 |                                                                           30.6 |
| Andhra Pradesh          |        10 | Srikakulam       |                                                        69 |                                                        79 |                                                                          -14.5 |
| Andhra Pradesh          |        11 | Vijayawada       |                                                        91 |                                                        64 |                                                                           29.7 |
| Andhra Pradesh          |        12 | Visakhapatnam    |                                                        76 |                                                       101 |                                                                          -32.9 |
| Andhra Pradesh          |        13 | Vizhianagaram    |                                                        72 |                                                        74 |                                                                           -2.8 |
| Assam                   |        14 | Guwahati         |                                                       103 |                                                       100 |                                                                            2.9 |
| Assam                   |        15 | Nagaon           |                                                        82 |                                                        65 |                                                                           20.7 |
| Assam                   |        16 | Nalbari          |                                                        87 |                                                        85 |                                                                            2.3 |
| Assam                   |        17 | Silchar          |                                                        49 |                                                        54 |                                                                          -10.2 |
| Assam                   |        18 | Sivasagar        |                                                        73 |                                                        55 |                                                                           24.7 |
| Bihar                   |        19 | Patna            |                                                       172 |                                                       167 |                                                                            2.9 |
| Bihar                   |        20 | Gaya             |                                                        79 |                                                        87 |                                                                          -10.1 |
| Bihar                   |        21 | Muzaffarpur      |                                                       147 |                                                       131 |                                                                           10.9 |
| Chandigarh Chhattisgarh |        22 | Chandigarh       |                                                       114 |                                                       114 |                                                                            0   |
|                         |        23 | Korba            |                                                        57 |                                                        69 |                                                                          -21.1 |
|                         |        24 | Durg Bhilainagar |                                                        86 |                                                        69 |                                                                           19.8 |
|                         |        25 | Raipur           |                                                        70 |                                                        75 |                                                                           -7.1 |
| Delhi                   |        26 | Delhi            |                                                       241 |                                                       203 |                                                                           15.8 |
| Gujarat                 |        27 | Ahmedabad        |                                                       164 |                                                       103 |                                                                           37.2 |
|                         |        28 | Rajkot           |                                                       150 |                                                        89 |                                                                           40.7 |
|                         |        29 | Surat            |                                                       130 |                                                        71 |                                                                           45.4 |
|                         |        30 | Vadodara         |                                                       133 |                                                        90 |                                                                           32.3 |
| Haryana                 |        31 | Faridabad        |                                                       229 |                                                       147 |                                                                           35.8 |
| Himachal Pradesh        |        32 | Baddi            |                                                       174 |                                                       108 |                                                                           37.9 |
|                         |        33 | Damtal           |                                                        55 |                                                        56 |                                                                           -1.8 |
|                         |        34 | KalaAmb          |                                                       118 |                                                        84 |                                                                           28.8 |
|                         |        35 | Nalagarh         |                                                       146 |                                                        68 |                                                                           53.4 |
|                         |        36 | Paonta Sahib     |                                                        84 |                                                        81 |                                                                            3.6 |

| States         |   Sl. No. | Cities               |   Average of PM 10 (µg/m 3 ) concentration for FY2017- 18 |   Average of PM 10 (µg/m 3 ) concentration for FY2024- 25 |   %improvement in PM 10 (µg/m 3 ) concentration in FY 2024-25 w.r.t. FY2017-18 |
|----------------|-----------|----------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                |        37 | Parwanoo             |                                                        66 |                                                        48 |                                                                           27.3 |
|                |        38 | Sunder Nagar         |                                                        78 |                                                        47 |                                                                           39.7 |
| Jammu          |        39 | Jammu                |                                                       157 |                                                       124 |                                                                           21   |
| Jammu          |        40 | Srinagar             |                                                       132 |                                                        76 |                                                                           42.4 |
| Jharkhand      |        41 | Dhanbad              |                                                       315 |                                                       166 |                                                                           47.3 |
| Jharkhand      |        42 | Jamshedpur           |                                                       135 |                                                       145 |                                                                           -7.4 |
| Jharkhand      |        43 | Ranchi               |                                                       141 |                                                       107 |                                                                           24.1 |
| Karnataka      |        44 | Bengaluru            |                                                        92 |                                                        68 |                                                                           26.1 |
| Karnataka      |        45 | Devanagere           |                                                        74 |                                                        57 |                                                                           23   |
| Karnataka      |        46 | Gulburga / Kalaburgi |                                                        55 |                                                        52 |                                                                            5.5 |
| Karnataka      |        47 | Hubli- Dharwad       |                                                        79 |                                                        61 |                                                                           22.8 |
| Madhya Pradesh |        48 | Bhopal               |                                                       112 |                                                       107 |                                                                            4.5 |
| Madhya Pradesh |        49 | Dewas                |                                                        83 |                                                        86 |                                                                           -3.6 |
| Madhya Pradesh |        50 | Gwalior              |                                                       126 |                                                       117 |                                                                            7.1 |
| Madhya Pradesh |        51 | Indore               |                                                        82 |                                                        83 |                                                                           -1.2 |
| Madhya Pradesh |        52 | Jabalpur             |                                                       101 |                                                        73 |                                                                           27.7 |
| Madhya Pradesh |        53 | Sagar                |                                                        73 |                                                        79 |                                                                           -8.2 |
| Madhya Pradesh |        54 | Ujjain               |                                                        93 |                                                        80 |                                                                           14   |
| Maharashtra    |        55 | Aurangabad           |                                                        75 |                                                       100 |                                                                          -33.3 |
|                |        56 | Akola                |                                                       111 |                                                        74 |                                                                           33.3 |
|                |        57 | Amravati             |                                                       102 |                                                        76 |                                                                           25.5 |
|                |        58 | Badlapur             |                                                       160 |                                                        90 |                                                                           43.8 |
|                |        59 | Chandrapur           |                                                       118 |                                                       111 |                                                                            5.9 |
|                |        60 | Greater Mumbai       |                                                       161 |                                                        90 |                                                                           44.1 |
|                |        61 | Jalgaon              |                                                        70 |                                                        93 |                                                                          -32.9 |
|                |        62 | Jalna                |                                                        99 |                                                        93 |                                                                            6.1 |
|                |        63 | Kolhapur             |                                                        89 |                                                        81 |                                                                            9   |
|                |        64 | Latur                |                                                        82 |                                                        67 |                                                                           18.3 |
|                |        65 | Nagpur               |                                                       100 |                                                        92 |                                                                            8   |
|                |        66 | Nashik               |                                                        82 |                                                        76 |                                                                            7.3 |
|                |        67 | Navi Mumbai          |                                                        88 |                                                        90 |                                                                           -2.3 |
|                |        68 | Pune                 |                                                       102 |                                                        93 |                                                                            8.8 |
|                |        69 | Sangli               |                                                        87 |                                                        74 |                                                                           14.9 |
|                |        70 | Solapur              |                                                        81 |                                                        83 |                                                                           -2.5 |
|                |        71 | Thane                |                                                       138 |                                                        90 |                                                                           34.8 |
|                |        72 | Ulhasnagar           |                                                       153 |                                                        90 |                                                                           41.2 |
|                |        73 | Vasai-virar          |                                                        99 |                                                        90 |                                                                            9.1 |

| States        |   Sl. No. | Cities           |   Average of PM 10 (µg/m 3 ) concentration for FY2017- 18 |   Average of PM 10 (µg/m 3 ) concentration for FY2024- 25 |   %improvement in PM 10 (µg/m 3 ) concentration in FY 2024-25 w.r.t. FY2017-18 |
|---------------|-----------|------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Meghalaya     |        74 | Byrnihat         |                                                       175 |                                                        98 |                                                                           44   |
|               |        75 | Dimapur          |                                                       142 |                                                       112 |                                                                           21.1 |
| Nagaland      |        76 | Kohima           |                                                       127 |                                                        71 |                                                                           44.1 |
| Odisha        |        77 | Angul            |                                                        97 |                                                       116 |                                                                          -19.6 |
| Odisha        |        78 | Balasore         |                                                        84 |                                                        93 |                                                                          -10.7 |
| Odisha        |        79 | Bhubaneshwar     |                                                        85 |                                                        86 |                                                                           -1.2 |
| Odisha        |        80 | Cuttack          |                                                        93 |                                                        89 |                                                                            4.3 |
| Odisha        |        81 | Kalinga Nagar    |                                                       109 |                                                       109 |                                                                            0   |
| Odisha        |        82 | Rourkela         |                                                        99 |                                                       111 |                                                                          -12.1 |
| Odisha        |        83 | Talcher          |                                                       113 |                                                       119 |                                                                           -5.3 |
| Punjab        |        84 | Amritsar         |                                                       189 |                                                       112 |                                                                           40.7 |
|               |        85 | Dera Baba Nanak  |                                                        79 |                                                        58 |                                                                           26.6 |
|               |        86 | Dera Bassi       |                                                        88 |                                                        98 |                                                                          -11.4 |
|               |        87 | Jalandhar        |                                                       178 |                                                        99 |                                                                           44.4 |
|               |        88 | Khanna           |                                                       142 |                                                       101 |                                                                           28.9 |
|               |        89 | Ludhiana         |                                                       168 |                                                       129 |                                                                           23.2 |
|               |        90 | Mandi Gobindgarh |                                                       148 |                                                       124 |                                                                           16.2 |
|               |        91 | Naya Nangal      |                                                        87 |                                                        58 |                                                                           33.3 |
|               |        92 | Patiala          |                                                       106 |                                                        91 |                                                                           14.2 |
| Rajasthan     |        93 | Jaipur           |                                                       172 |                                                       142 |                                                                           17.4 |
| Rajasthan     |        94 | Alwar            |                                                       152 |                                                       105 |                                                                           30.9 |
| Rajasthan     |        95 | Jodhpur          |                                                       189 |                                                       122 |                                                                           35.4 |
| Rajasthan     |        96 | Kota             |                                                       139 |                                                       115 |                                                                           17.3 |
| Rajasthan     |        97 | Udaipur          |                                                       127 |                                                       121 |                                                                            4.7 |
| Tamil Nadu    |        98 | Chennai          |                                                        66 |                                                        58 |                                                                           12.1 |
|               |        99 | Madurai          |                                                        72 |                                                        61 |                                                                           15.3 |
|               |       100 | Trichy           |                                                        88 |                                                        57 |                                                                           35.2 |
|               |       101 | Tuticorin        |                                                       123 |                                                        56 |                                                                           54.5 |
| Telangana     |       102 | Hyderabad        |                                                       110 |                                                        81 |                                                                           26.4 |
| Telangana     |       103 | Nalgonda         |                                                        59 |                                                        78 |                                                                          -32.2 |
| Telangana     |       104 | Sangareddy       |                                                        85 |                                                        86 |                                                                           -1.2 |
| Uttar Pradesh |       105 | Agra             |                                                       202 |                                                       103 |                                                                           49   |
| Uttar Pradesh |       106 | Allahabad        |                                                       169 |                                                        99 |                                                                           41.4 |
| Uttar Pradesh |       107 | Ghaziabad        |                                                       285 |                                                       154 |                                                                           46   |
| Uttar Pradesh |       108 | Kanpur           |                                                       227 |                                                       102 |                                                                           55.1 |
| Uttar Pradesh |       109 | Lucknow          |                                                       253 |                                                       142 |                                                                           43.9 |
| Uttar Pradesh |       110 | Meerut           |                                                       159 |                                                       133 |                                                                           16.4 |
| Uttar Pradesh |       111 | Varanasi         |                                                       230 |                                                        59 |                                                                           74.3 |

| States      |   Sl. No. | Cities      |   Average of PM 10 (µg/m 3 ) concentration for FY2017- 18 |   Average of PM 10 (µg/m 3 ) concentration for FY2024- 25 |   %improvement in PM 10 (µg/m 3 ) concentration in FY 2024-25 w.r.t. FY2017-18 |
|-------------|-----------|-------------|-----------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|             |       112 | Anpara      |                                                       175 |                                                       155 |                                                                           11.4 |
|             |       113 | Bareily     |                                                       207 |                                                        48 |                                                                           76.8 |
|             |       114 | Firozabad   |                                                       247 |                                                       100 |                                                                           59.5 |
|             |       115 | Gajraula    |                                                       204 |                                                       148 |                                                                           27.5 |
|             |       116 | Gorakhpur   |                                                       150 |                                                       105 |                                                                           30   |
|             |       117 | Jhansi      |                                                       109 |                                                        60 |                                                                           45   |
|             |       118 | Khurja      |                                                       195 |                                                       159 |                                                                           18.5 |
|             |       119 | Moradabad   |                                                       222 |                                                        96 |                                                                           56.8 |
|             |       120 | Noida       |                                                       229 |                                                       149 |                                                                           34.9 |
|             |       121 | Raebareli   |                                                       145 |                                                        79 |                                                                           45.5 |
| Uttarakhand |       122 | Dehradun    |                                                       250 |                                                       107 |                                                                           57.2 |
| Uttarakhand |       123 | Kashipur    |                                                        99 |                                                        93 |                                                                            6.1 |
| Uttarakhand |       124 | Rishikesh   |                                                       129 |                                                        84 |                                                                           34.9 |
| West Bengal |       125 | Asansol     |                                                       147 |                                                       131 |                                                                           10.9 |
| West Bengal |       126 | Barrackpore |                                                        86 |                                                        92 |                                                                           -7   |
| West Bengal |       127 | Durgapur    |                                                       150 |                                                       149 |                                                                            0.7 |
| West Bengal |       128 | Haldia      |                                                        92 |                                                        81 |                                                                           12   |
| West Bengal |       129 | Howrah      |                                                       139 |                                                        92 |                                                                           33.8 |
| West Bengal |       130 | Kolkata     |                                                       147 |                                                        92 |                                                                           37.4 |