Lok Sabha Question No. 5757 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-30
Subject: Utilisation of Funds under NCAP, 2026
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Shri Bidyut Baran Mahato, Shri Bhartruhari Mahtab, Shri Pradeep Purohit, Shri Dileshwar Kamait, Shri Bibhu Prasad Tarai, Shri Shankar Lalwani, Shri Pradeep Kumar Singh, Smt. Kamlesh Jangde, Shri Krishna Prasad Tenneti, Shri Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri, Shri Dilip Saikia, Shri P P Chaudhary, Dr. Manna Lal Rawat, Shri Satish Kumar Gautam, Shri Chandra Prakash Choudhary, Smt. Aparajita Sarangi, Shri Manoj Tiwari

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5757

TO BE ANSWERED ON 30.03.2026

## Utilisation of Funds under NCAP, 2026

5757.   SHRI KRISHNA PRASAD TENNETI:

SHRI SHANKAR LALWANI:

SHRI P P CHAUDHARY:

SHRI PRADEEP PUROHIT:

SHRI DILESHWAR KAMAIT:

SMT. KAMLESH JANGDE:

SHRI PRADEEP KUMAR SINGH:

SMT. APARAJITA SARANGI:

SHRI VISHWESHWAR HEGDE KAGERI:

SHRI BIBHU PRASAD TARAI:

SHRI DILIP SAIKIA:

SHRI CHANDRA PRAKASH CHOUDHARY:

DR. MANNA LAL RAWAT:

SHRI MANOJ TIWARI:

SHRI SATISH KUMAR GAUTAM:

SHRI BHARTRUHARI MAHTAB:

SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO:

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

- (a) whether the Government is on track to meet the revised 40 per cent PM10 reduction target by the end of 2026 and if not, the reasons for the delay and the steps being taken to mitigate the same; (b)  the  manner  in  which  expansion  of  the  monitoring  network  to  1600  stations  improved  the
- accuracy of air quality data;
- (c)  the  details  of  specific  progress  made  in  conducting  source  apportionment  studies  for  the remaining 40 non-attainment cities;
- (d) whether the Government has successfully utilised the Rs.13,415 crore that were released under National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) and the 15th Finance Commission and if so, the details thereof; and

(e) whether the Airshed Approach has been successfully implemented to address regional pollution clusters in the Indo-Gangetic Plain and if so, the details of result achieved so far?

## ANSWER

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

(a)  to  (e): To address  air  pollution  in  the  country,  the  Government  of  India  has  launched  the National  Clean  Air  Programme  (NCAP)  in  2019  as  a  long-term,  time-bound,  national-level strategy to improve air quality in 130 cities (non-attainment cities and Million Plus Cities) in 24 States/UTs by engaging all stakeholders.

City Specific Clean Air Action Plans prepared by 130 cities under NCAP are implemented to reduce air pollution sources like soil & road dust, vehicular emissions, construction & demolition activities, waste burning and industrial pollution, etc.

Out of the amount of Rs.13,415 crore (released as on November, 2025) provided to 130 cities under 15th Finance Commission's Million Plus City Challenge Fund (MPCCF) and Control of Pollution Scheme of MoEF&CC, cities have reported the utilization of Rs. 10,611.52 crore.

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 .

CPCB has issued guidelines for establishing Ambient Air Quality Monitoring stations namely, 'Guidelines for the Measurement of Ambient Air Pollutants (Volume-I: Guidelines for Manual Sampling & Analyses, and Volume-II: Guidelines for Real Time Sampling & Analyses)'. Further, CPCB  has  also  issued  'Technical  Handbook  for  Installation,  Maintenance,  Calibration,  Data Connectivity  and  Data  Quality  check  of  Continuous  Ambient  Air  Quality  Monitoring  System (Real Time)'.

The Hand Book provides for conducting Annual Audit of CAAQMs by third party who should have accreditation of ISO 17025 and having expertise in the O&M of CAAQM System to ensure the proper functioning of the system in respect of operation of analysers, their maintenance & calibration, data quality, operator skills, etc.

Concerned  State  Pollution  Control  Boards/Pollution  Control  Committees  install  monitoring stations  to  collect  ambient  air  quality,  in  line  with  the  criteria  issued  by  the  Central  Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and these are run, operated and maintained by the respective agencies as per the aforementioned framework.

Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations are equipped with state of art reference-grade systems, delivering  continuous  and  near  real-time  data.  These  monitoring  systems  provide  accurate, traceable,  and  reliable  data,  which  is  essential  for  compliance  assessment  under  the  National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).

Central Pollution Control Board issued 'Conceptual Guidelines and Common Methodology for Air Quality Monitoring, Emission Inventory (EI) & Source Apportionment (SA) Studies for Indian Cities.' SPCBs/PCCs take up Source Apportionment Studies through various academic/ research institutes for respective cities under NCAP in line with the CPCB guidelines to identify various factors contributing to air pollution and prioritise the air quality improvement measures under city action plans. Source Apportionment (SA) studies have been carried out in 90 cities of NCAP and remaining 40 cities have initiated the studies and are at various stages.

With a view to abate and control air pollution in Delhi-NCR, the Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) has adopted an air-shed-based approach to implement the air pollution control measures through coordinated actions of  various agencies of Central, State and local Governments. Accordingly, all states under Delhi NCR have prepared Short-term  and  long-term  action  plan  under  the  coordination  of  CAQM,  for  prevention  and mitigation of air pollution in Delhi NCR.

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