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The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change conferred the 5th Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan Awards at Swachh Vayu Diwas 2026 in New Delhi on 7 September 2026.
Lucknow topped Category I (population above 10 lakh) with 198 of 200 points, ahead of Indore (197) and Jabalpur (195), and won a cash prize of Rs 1.5 crore.
Rourkela topped Category II with 198.5 points and Kalinga Nagar topped Category III with 198.5 points.
The 2026 edition scored municipal wards for the first time, with Lucknow's Ward 70 placed first among wards above 30,000 population.
Of 130 cities monitored under the National Clean Air Programme, 108 recorded lower PM10 levels than the 2017-18 baseline, but Lucknow is still short of the 60 microgram per cubic metre annual standard.
Indore first, Agra second, Thane third
Surat first, Jabalpur second, Agra third
Indore first with a perfect 200, Jabalpur second with 199, Agra and Surat joint third with 196
Lucknow first with 198, Indore second with 197, Jabalpur third with 195
Reduce PM10 levels by up to 40%, or meet the national annual standard of 60 micrograms per cubic metre, by 2025-26
Key: Launched in January 2019 by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, covering 131 non-attainment and million-plus cities across 24 states and Union Territories
Rank NCAP cities on the clean-air actions they have actually implemented and use the ranking to push city-level plans
Key: Cities are grouped into three population categories and scored out of 200; the 2026 edition added ward-level awards
Runs the National Clean Air Programme and confers the Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan awards
Statutory body that monitors ambient air quality and administers the survey with the ministry
Specialised environmental tribunal; its Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava was Chief Guest at Swachh Vayu Diwas 2026
PM10 is particulate matter up to 10 micrometres across, small enough to be inhaled. The survey scores what a city did about pollution sources, so strong action can top the table while measured air still breaches the standard.
Simple Analogy: Marks for effort in the exam, not for the final result.
GS Paper III > Environment - conservation, pollution and degradation; government programmes
General Awareness > Reports, indices and rankings
Annual ranking of cities under the National Clean Air Programme, scored out of 200 on clean-air actions taken, in three population categories
A city that failed to meet national ambient air quality standards over a set monitoring period; 131 such cities and million-plus cities are covered by NCAP
Particulate matter of aerodynamic diameter 10 micrometres or less; the national annual standard is 60 micrograms per cubic metre
Observed on 7 September each year; the 2026 observance was the seventh, themed 'Clean Air for Climate Action'