Lucknow has emerged as India's cleanest city in the latest Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan 2026, taking the top spot among cities with a population of more than 10 lakh. The city scored 198 points, pushing last year's winner Indore to second place.
The survey evaluates cities across three population categories, with rankings based on their performance on various air-quality and pollution-control measures.
Lucknow takes top spot, Indore slips to second
Indore, which secured a perfect 200 points and topped the survey in 2025, scored 197 points this year. Jabalpur finished third with 195 points, while Bhopal and Agra jointly occupied fourth place with 192 points each.
The remaining cities in the top 10 of the over-10 lakh category were Surat, Raipur, Thane, Chandigarh and Rajkot.
Delhi was ranked 21st with 172 points, while Mumbai stood at 28th with 160.8 points.
Noida enters top 10
The rankings also cover cities with populations between 3 lakh and 10 lakh. Rourkela topped this category, followed by Firozabad, Guntur, Amravati and Bhubaneswar.
Noida secured the 10th position. Jhansi, Alwar, Latur and Moradabad completed the top 10.
Among cities with populations below 3 lakh, Kalinga Nagar claimed the first position, followed by Angul and Talcher. Eluru and Haldia rounded off the top five.
PM10 remains a challenge
Particulate matter with a diameter of 10 micrometres or less, known as PM10, remains an important area of focus under the survey. These particles can come from sources including vehicle emissions, road dust and industrial activity.
Indore's annual average PM10 level was around 81 micrograms per cubic metre this year, according to Indore Municipal Corporation data. While the level declined by more than 15 per cent from previous years, it remained above the annual NAAQS limit of 60 micrograms per cubic metre.
The city's AQI remained below 200 on average on more than 98 per cent of the days during the evaluation period.
Indore plans more pollution-control measures
Indore Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava told PTI, "We scored one point lower than Lucknow in the survey due to (the city) lagging behind in PM10 particle standards."
The city plans to expand campaigns such as "Red Light On, Engine Off", promote electric vehicles and increase e-bus operations. The municipal corporation also plans to shift garbage collection vehicles to electric models and encourage industries to move from diesel to cleaner fuels such as CNG.
Officials said mechanical sweeping covers around 700 km of roads daily to control dust, alongside efforts to manage construction waste.