Delhi, which regularly grapples with toxic smog and dangerous levels of air pollution, has ranked above cities such as Srinagar and Bengaluru in the Centre's Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan 2026. The national capital stood 21st among cities with populations exceeding 10 lakh, while Srinagar and Bengaluru were placed 26th and 32nd, respectively. Lucknow emerged at the top of the clean-air rankings.
Released by the Union Environment Ministry on Monday, the ranking evaluates not only air quality but also the efforts made by cities to control pollution.
Lucknow led the million-plus population category with 198 points, narrowly surpassing Indore, which has been recognised as the cleanest city in India for eight consecutive years in the annual Swachh Survekshan rankings.
Jabalpur secured third place with 195 points, while Bhopal and Agra jointly occupied fourth position with 192 points each.
Conducted by the Union Environment Ministry under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), the Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan assesses cities on measures including road-dust management, solid-waste disposal, control of vehicular and industrial emissions, construction-waste management and public awareness initiatives.
Delhi's AQI often rises above 400 during winter, entering the "severe" category, and has at times crossed 450.
Therefore, a city such as Delhi with poor air quality can rank above a comparatively cleaner city if its documented pollution-control measures and their implementation earn a higher score.
In the 2025 Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan, Delhi was ranked 32nd with a final score of 157.3. Indore topped the 2025 list, followed by Jabalpur, while Agra and Surat jointly secured third place.
DELHI RANKED ABOVE SRINAGAR, BENGALURU FOR CLEAN AIR
Delhi scored 172 points and shared 21st position with Visakhapatnam in the category for cities with populations above 10 lakh. Srinagar secured 26th place with 162.6 points, while Bengaluru ranked 32nd with 152.6 points, according to the official results.
Patna performed better than all three, taking 16th place with 178 points.
Delhi also ranked ahead of Mumbai, which stood 28th with 160.8 points, Chennai at 35th with 147.7 points and Kolkata at 38th with 142.2 points. Hyderabad, meanwhile, was ranked above Delhi in 19th place.
In the category covering cities with populations between three lakh and 10 lakh, Odisha's Rourkela topped the list. Firozabad in Uttar Pradesh and Guntur in Andhra Pradesh jointly finished second, while Amravati in Maharashtra came third.
Among cities with populations below three lakh, Kalinga Nagar in Odisha secured the top position, followed by Angul and Talcher, also in Odisha.
Delhi's ranking may appear surprising given that the capital continues to be one of India's most polluted urban centres.
Even in 2025, which the government described as Delhi's best year for particulate pollution since 2018, excluding the Covid-affected 2020, the city's annual average PM10 concentration stood at 198 micrograms per cubic metre, while PM2.5 levels averaged 97 micrograms per cubic metre. According to the ministry, both figures were substantially higher than India's annual standards of 60 and 40 micrograms per cubic metre, respectively.
The capital's air quality also worsened significantly during the 2025-26 winter season.
In January 2026, authorities imposed Stage IV of the Graded Response Action Plan after Delhi's air quality entered the most polluted category.
The fifth edition of the Centre's Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan 2026, released on Monday, evaluated 130 NCAP cities across three population categories. The assessment included self-evaluation by cities, approval from state-level monitoring committees, scrutiny by the Central Pollution Control Board and field verification by independent panels.
The government said 108 of the 130 cities recorded lower PM10 levels in 2025-26 compared with the 2017-18 baseline year. However, only 14 cities managed to meet the national standard.
