Delhi ranks joint 21st in 2026 clean-air action survey with 172 points

Delhi scored 172 points and shared 21st place with Visakhapatnam in the 2026 Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan, a government assessment of cities’ clean-air work.

The capital was assessed in the group of 48 cities with populations above 10 lakh. It placed ahead of Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata. Lucknow led the category with 198 points out of 200, followed by Indore with 197 and Jabalpur with 195.

The ranking is not a measure of the air Delhi residents breathe on a particular day. It evaluates cities’ performance during FY 2025-26 on pollution-control measures and improvements in PM10 levels.

The framework covers road dust, waste burning, construction and demolition waste, vehicle and industrial emissions, and public-awareness efforts. Conducted under the National Clean Air Programme, the survey assessed 130 cities across three population bands.