Parliament Question: Funds for Andhra Pradesh under NCAP

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2350 TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.08.2025 Funds for Andhra Pradesh under NCAP 2350. SHRI APPALANAIDU KALISETTI: Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state: (a) the names of cities in Andhra Pradesh covered under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) and the Control of Pollution Scheme, along with the year of their inclusion; (b) the total funds allocated, released and utilised by each of these cities under NCAP and the Control of Pollution Scheme including details of projects undertaken since their inclusion, year and city-wise including Visakhapatnam; (c) the current status of implementation of city-level Clean Air Action Plans in these cities, including measurable progress made in reducing PM10 or PM 2.5 levels, city- wise including Visakhapatnam; (d) whether any performance-linked grants have been disbursed to Andhra Pradesh cities under the 15th Finance Commission’s Million Plus City Challenge Fund (MPCCF) and if so, the details thereof along with the criteria and performance benchmarks used in determining such disbursement, city-wise including Visakhapatnam; (e) whether the Ministry has conducted any assessment of barriers faced by cities in Andhra Pradesh in accessing or utilising NCAP funds and the corrective measures suggested or taken in this regard; (f) whether the Government is aware that Visakhapatnam has recorded a 58 per cent rise in annual PM10 concentrations during the last five years and if so, the key factors identified for the same along with the measures being undertaken by the Government to strengthen local air quality management in the said city; and (g) the status of any pending proposal from local or State authorities seeking additional funding or revised action plans? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH) (a) to (g) National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) launched by Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) in January 2019 aims to improve air quality in 130 cities (non-attainment cities and Million-Plus Cities) in 24 States/UTs.A total of 13 cities of Andhra Pradesh have been included out of which 11 cities (Anantapur, Chittoor, Eluru, Guntur, Kadapa, Kurnool, Nellore, Ongole, Rajahmundry Srikakulam and Vizianagaram) are funded under Control of Pollution Scheme of MoEFCC and 02 cities (Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam) are funded under 15th Finance Commission Million-Plus City Challenge Fund as an air quality performance grant. Under NCAP, a total of ₹734.86 crore has been allocated to 13 cities of Andhra Pradesh during FY 2019-20 till FY 2025-26. An amount of ₹384.17 crore has been released and ₹195.19 crore has been utilised so far. Details of funds allocation, release and utilisation of 13 targeted cities of Andhra Pradesh are enclosed at Annexure I. The programme leverages mobilisation of resources through convergence of various schemes of Central & State Governments such as Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban), AMRUT, Smart City Mission, PM e-Bus Sewa, Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT), and Nagar Van Yojana, as well as resources of State Govts. / UT administration, Municipal Corporations and other developmental authorities for implementation of action plans. Further, MoEFCC has recommended to Department of Expenditure (DoE) for release of an amount of Rs. 67.54 crore as part of 15th Finance Commission air quality grants for FY 2024- 25. The said amount could not be released to Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam due to pending compliance from the State Govt. in respect of fulfilling the pre-requisites of DoE guidelines dated 10.08.2021 including notification of floor rates for property tax with growth in property tax in line with simple average growth rate of the State’s own GSDP in the recent five years. Ministry has communicated to the State Government to submit the compliance to access the funds. Criteria for providing funds to Million-Plus cities have been provided in Annexure II. City specific Clean Air Action Plans have been prepared by all cities of Andhra Pradesh to implement air quality improvement measures in respective cities. These plans target air pollution mitigation measures addressing various sources like soil & road dust, vehicular emissions, waste burning, Construction & Demolition activities, and industrial pollution. MoEFCC has revised the guidelines vide letter dated 14.05.2025, and has communicated that funds provided to the cities are to be utilized in 5 key activities including, (i) road improvement works for dust control such as end-to-end pavement of roads and mechanical road sweeping, (ii) greening of open areas and traffic corridors, (iii) improvement of traffic junctions for decongestion, (iv) air pollution control measures in crematoriums, and (v) mass awareness and public outreach. Further, MoEFCC vide Office Memorandum dated 22.05.2025 has communicated to the cities to implement City Action Plan for 100% saturation in Mission mode by leveraging resources through convergence with the Central & State Govt. Schemes, funds allocated under NCAP and their own resources. Air quality improvement measures undertaken in the cities of Andhra Pradesh including Visakhapatnam is enclosed at Annexure III.Status of air quality improvement of 13 cities of Andhra Pradesh is provided at Annexure IV. CPCB Nodal Officers have conducted field verification of implementation of city action plans. Further, based on the source apportionment study conducted in Visakhapatnam major sources of the particulate matter pollution include resuspension/ road/soil dust, traffic/vehicular emissions, bulk material handling and biomass usage as fuel. Further, presence of Red category industries and unfavourable dispersion conditions due to unique geographical conditions forming bowl area surrounded by mountains on three side and ocean on the other side has led to higher air pollution levels. State Pollution Control Board has issued directions to air polluting industries to meet the emission norms along with implementation of the other air pollution control measures. Further municipal corporations have been directed to implement the city action plans in a time bound manner. ***Annexure I Details of allocation, release and utilization of funds in 13 cities of Andhra Pradesh under NCAP during FY 2019-20 till FY 2025-26 (as on 30.07.2025) (Amount in Rs. Crore) Sr. Total Total % State City Allocation No released utilised Utilisation Cities funded under Control of Pollution Scheme of MoEFCC 1 Anantapur 24.41 13.85 8.77 63% 2 Chittoor 11.85 7.20375 5.32 74% 3 Eluru 13.07 5.82 4.61 79% 4 Guntur 26.18 18.8 16.67 89% 5 Kadapa 20.21 11.325 7.76 69% 6 Kurnool 23.92 10.5325 6.07 58% Andhra 7 Nellore 47.29 26.175 24.07 92% Pradesh 8 Ongole 17.19 10.05875 7.86 78% 9 Rajahmundry 20.59 8.71 8.24 95% 10 Srikakulam 7.78 5.245 3.89 74% 11 Vizianagaram 10.25 6.73 5.29 79% Cities funded under 15th Finance Commission Air quality grants 12 Vijayawada 238 130.35 57.09 44% 13 Visakhapatnam 274.12 129.37 39.55 31% Total 734.86 384.17 195.19 51%Annexure II Criteria for providing funds to Million-Plus cities As per DoE Guidelines, the assessment of city performance on air quality to be based on following four parameters: A. Strengthening of the pollution monitoring mechanism  Operationalization of AQM Cell.  IT enabled air quality data management system.  Coordination Committee reviews including progress and review of city action plans, public grievance redressal portal, emergency response and awareness programme. B. Source-wise cause analysis for air pollution  Air quality profiling to identify suitable locations for AQ monitoring stations including hotspots.  Source apportionment study and establishment of a robust emission inventory and tracking system.  Development of IT based emission inventory system. C. Progress on action plans and compliance of statutory guidelines  Implementation and updation of action plans.  Monitoring of PUC for vehicles.  Infrastructure planning and set up of (CAAQMS) / (manual AQMS). D. Quantification of air quality improvement  Reduction in air pollution levels (particulate matter).  Frequency of exceedance in AQI levels. D (i) Reduction in air pollution levels (particulate matter) Table A - PM Annual Average Concentration 10 S. No. Reduction (%) in annual average concentration Improvement 1 15 and above High 2 <15 Low D (ii) Frequency of exceedance in AQI levels: The number of days exceeding AQI (Moderate - 200) out of total number of normal days monitored per year would be graded as under: Table B - Good days (AQI<200) S. No. Increase in Good days (%) Improvement 1 15 and above High 2 <15 Low Based on grading in Table ‘A’ and Table ‘B’ above, the combined performance factor for Air Quality Management would be graded and evaluated for the cities/ UAs as per following procedure: S. No. Reduction (%) in annual Increase in Good days Performance Factor, S D average concentration (from (%) (from Table B) Table A) 1 High High 100 2 Low High 75 3 High Low 50 4 Low Low 25 Table C: Fund allocation to cities (Performance based)Score of the city (S) Percentage of Fund allocation from 2021-22 onwards 80-100 100 60-80 75 50-60 50 40-50 25 Below 40 NIL Relative weightage for City Performance Assessment – The performance matrics determining the release of Ambient Air Quality Grant to Million-Plus Cities (MPCs) for the Financial Years 2021-22 and for further years is in Table E below: Table D: Relative weightage for City Performance Assessment Parameter 2021 2021-22 2022- 2023-24 2024- 2025-26 23 25 A. Strengthening of 10 - - - - pollution monitoring mechanism B. Source-wise Cause 10 - - - - Analysis for Air pollution C. Progress on Action 10 - - - - plans and Compliance of Statutory guidelines D. Quantification and 70 100 100 100 100 evaluation of Air Quality Improvements Total 100 100 100 100 100Annexure III Details of activities undertaken in 13 targeted cities of Andhra Pradesh S. Activities Unit Physical Progress No. End-to-end pavement and widening of 1. km 2883 roads 2. Development of green spaces acres 110 3. Greening along traffic corridors km 1153.8 4 Mechanical Road sweeping km/day 979 5 Crematoriums switched to cleaner fuels no. 10 6 Junctions Improvement no. 93 7 Solid waste processing plant TPD 596 Solid waste collection and transportation 8 TPD 1621 systems 9 Legacy waste remediation Lakh tonnes 12.5 10 Processing of C & D waste TPD 63 11 EV charging stations No. 45 Details of activities undertaken in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh Sl. No. Name of Activity Unit Quantity 1 End-to end pavement of Roads km 26.94 2 Development of green spaces km 0.85 3 Greening of traffic corridors km 13.8 4 Mechanical Road sweeping km/day 320 Solid Waste collection & 5 TPD 180 transportation 6 Legacy waste remediation Lakh tonnes 2.5 Improvement of traffic 7 no. 19 junctionsAnnexure IV Improvement in PM10 concentrations of 13 Cities of Andhra Pradesh under NCAP in FY 2024-25 w.r.t. FY 2017-18 2017-2018 2024-25 % Average Average improvement Sl. State Cities concentration concentration in 2024-25 No. (F.Y.) of PM (F.Y.) of PM w.r.t. FY 10 10 (µg/m3) (µg/m3) 2017-18 1 Rajahmundry 85 59 30.6 2 Vijayawada 91 64 29.7 3 Kadapa 75 56 25.3 4 Kurnool 79 60 24.1 5 Anantapur 78 60 23.1 6 Andhra Nellore 64 51 20.3 7 Pradesh Chittoor 70 60 14.3 8 Eluru 72 64 11.1 9 Ongole 65 58 10.8 10 Guntur 66 64 3.0 11 Vizianagaram 72 74 -2.8 12 Srikakulam 69 79 -14.5 13 Visakhapatnam 76 101 -32.9 *****