**Policy Summary: Delhi Air Quality Improvement - July 2025**
This report summarizes the air quality in Delhi for July 2025 and the period of January-July 2025, as reported by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
**Key Findings:**
* **July 2025 AQI:** Delhi experienced its best average Air Quality Index (AQI) in July since 2018, with a "Satisfactory" level of 78. This is an improvement compared to July AQI values of 104 (2018), 134 (2019), 84 (2020), 110 (2021), 87 (2022), 84 (2023), and 96 (2024).
* **Satisfactory Days in July:** July 2025 had the highest number of "Satisfactory" AQI days (29) since 2018, exceeding the number of such days in 2018 (16), 2019 (12), 2020 (25), 2021 (20), 2022 (25), 2023 (26), and 2024 (17).
* **January-July 2025 AQI:** The average AQI for January-July 2025 was 184, a significant improvement over previous years: 204 (2024); 183 (2023); 209 (2022); 205 (2021); 159 (2020); 215 (2019); and 217 (2018).
* **Absence of Severe AQI Days:** Notably, the January-July 2025 period did not have any days with an average AQI in the "Severe" category (above 400). Previous years saw the following number of "Severe" AQI days: 6 (2018), 7 (2019), 2 (2020), 6 (2021), 1 (2022), 3 (2023), and 3 (2024).
* **Satisfactory Days (Jan-Jul):** The period also witnessed a high number of Satisfactory days (42), at par with 2023, and only surpassed by 2020.
* **PM2.5 and PM10 Levels:** The period from January to July 29th saw the lowest levels of PM2.5 and PM10 concentration in Delhi compared to the corresponding period since 2018, excluding 2020 (the year of lockdown due to Covid). PM2.5 running average was 79 µg/m3 in 2025, compared to 94 (2024), 83 (2023), 93 (2022), 97 (2021), 73 (2020), 99 (2019), and 103 (2018). PM10 running average was 180 µg/m3 in 2025, compared to 209 (2024), 184 (2023), 218 (2022), 210 (2021), 147 (2020), 224 (2019), and 234 (2018).
**Contributing Factors:**
The improvements in air quality are attributed to favorable meteorological conditions and the concerted efforts of various stakeholders.
**Agency Actions:**
The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) is actively collaborating with relevant stakeholders to implement effective measures for the prevention, control, and reduction of air pollution in Delhi-NCR. Efforts are ongoing to further enhance air quality in the region.
**Release Information:**
Press Information Bureau (PIB) Delhi. Posted on July 31, 2025, 7:34 PM. Release ID: 2150982.
Key Entities Referenced
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change: The Indian government ministry responsible for environmental protection and climate change mitigation.
Delhi: A city and union territory of India. The policy text refers to air quality within Delhi.
Air Quality Index (AQI): An index for reporting daily air quality, indicating how clean or polluted the air is.
Covid19: Refers to the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically the lockdown period in 2020 and its impact on air quality.
DelhiNCR: National Capital Region. A planning region centred upon the National Capital Territory of Delhi in India.
CAQM: Commission for Air Quality Management in Delhi NCR and Adjoining Areas. An organisation working to improve air quality in Delhi and surrounding regions.
PM2.5: Particulate matter 2.5 micrometers in diameter or smaller. A common air pollutant.
PM10: Particulate matter 10 micrometers in diameter or smaller. A common air pollutant.
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
Month of July in 2025 witnesses the best average
AQI and highest number of ‘Satisfactory’ days in
Delhi since 2018
Not even a Single day with average AQI in ‘Severe’
Category during the January – July period in 2025
Posted On: 31 JUL 2025 7:34PM by PIB Delhi
Aided by favourable meteorological conditions and efforts by different stakeholders, the month of July 2025
witnesses the best average AQI (Air Quality Index) in Delhi, since 2018, at 78 i.e. ‘Satisfactory’ category, (even
cleaner than the Covid-19 lockdown year 2020). The average AQI for the month of July was 104 in 2018, 134 in
2019, 84 in 2020, 110 in 2021, 87 in 2022, 84 in 2023 and 96 in 2024 respectively.
Moreover, the month of July also witnessed highest number of ‘Satisfactory’ days (AQI 51-100) i.e. 29 such
days as against 16 days in 2018, 12 days in 2019, 25 days in 2020, 20 days in 2021, 25 days in 2022, 26 days
in 2023, and 17 days 2024.
The average AQI of Delhi for the period January-July has also witnessed significant improvement over the
years, recording an average value of 184 in the current year as against 204 in 2024; 183 in 2023; 209 in 2022;
205 in 2021; 159 in 2020; 215 in 2019; and 217 in 2018.
This period (January – July) in 2025 did not witness even a single day with average AQI more than 400
(‘Severe’ or ‘Severe+’ categories). There were 06, 07, 02, 06, 01, 03 and 03 such days during the years 2018,
2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024 respectively. Moreover, this period also witnessed highest number of
‘Satisfactory’ days i.e. 42 such days at par with the year 2023 (barring 2020 – the year of lockdown due to
Covid).
th
The period from January – July (upto 29 July) has seen the lowest levels of PM concentration in Delhi
2.5
compared to the corresponding period since 2018 (barring 2020 – the year of lockdown due to Covid); Delhi
3
witnessed PM running average of 79 µg/m in the current year as against 94 in 2024, 83 in 2023, 93 in
2.5
2022, 97 in 2021,73 in 2020, 99 in 2019 and 103 in 2018 respectively.
Likewise, the period January - July also witnessed the lowest levels of PM concentration in Delhi compared
10
to the corresponding period since 2018 (barring 2020 – the year of lockdown due to Covid), recording a
3
running average of 180 µg/m in the current year as against 209 in 2024, 184 in 2023, 218 in 2022, 210 in
2021, 147 in 2020, 224 in 2019 and 234 in 2018.
CAQM is working closely with various stakeholders concerned to take effective measures for prevention,
control and abatement of air pollution and to improve the air quality in Delhi-NCR and efforts would be
intensified in an endeavour to further improve upon the air quality scenario in Delhi in the coming days.
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VM(Release ID: 2150982)