India Honours Cities for Clean Air Efforts

On 9th September 2025, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change organised the Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan Awards & Wetland Cities Recognition Ceremony 2025 in New Delhi, where Union Minister felicitated the best-performing cities under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) and recognised two Indian cities with international wetland accreditation.

In the large city category, Indore secured the first rank with a perfect score of 200, earning ₹1.5 crore and recognition for planting over 16 lakh trees and adopting 120 electric buses and 150 CNG buses in public transport.
Jabalpur achieved second place with a score of 199 for its waste-to-energy plant and greenery expansion, while Agra and Surat jointly ranked third for efforts such as legacy waste remediation, Miyawaki plantations, an electric vehicle policy, and maintaining 38% green cover.
Among medium cities, Amravati ranked first with extensive road improvements and the creation of 19 acres of dense forest, followed by Jhansi and Moradabad, which were honoured for greening drives and waste management, while Alwar was recognised for remediating its legacy waste site.