**Executive Summary:**
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change launched the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) in January 2019 to improve air quality in 130 non-attainment cities. The program focuses on reducing PM10 concentrations and includes state and city action plans, infrastructure improvements, and public awareness campaigns. As of FY 2024-25, 103 cities have shown a reduction in PM concentration with respect to FY 2017-18, and 22 cities have met the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).
**Key Points / Main Content:**
* **NCAP Overview:**
* Launched in January 2019 by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
* Aims to improve air quality in 130 non-attainment and Million-Plus Cities across 24 States/UTs.
* Targets cities exceeding National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for PM10 levels between 2014-2019.
* **Air Quality Improvement:**
* 103 cities showed a reduction in PM concentration in FY 2024-25 compared to FY 2017-18.
* 22 cities have met NAAQS with PM10 concentrations below 60 gm/m3.
* **Delhi NCR Region:**
* Six cities (Delhi, Alwar, Faridabad, Noida, Ghaziabad, Meerut) are part of the Delhi NCR and receive funding under NCAP.
* Measures include action plans, road improvements, greening initiatives, traffic decongestion, cleaner crematorium fuels, and public outreach.
* All six Delhi NCR cities have shown improvement in PM10 concentration in FY 2024-25 compared to FY 2017-18.
* Delhi received Rs. 62.03 crore under NCAP from FY 2019-20 to FY 2025-26, with Rs. 13.94 crore utilized.
* **Maharashtra State:**
* 19 cities in Maharashtra are covered under NCAP.
* Rs. 1,774.62 crore provided to Maharashtra for implementing city action plans.
* Actions include road pavement, waste remediation, EV buses, traffic improvements, and cleaner crematorium fuels.
* 15 out of 19 cities showed improvement in PM10 levels in FY 2024-25 compared to FY 2017-18.
**Impact Analysis**
* **City Administrations:**
* *Impact:* Required to prepare and implement State and City Action Plans to reduce PM10 concentrations.
* *Action Required:* Implement road improvements, greening initiatives, traffic decongestion measures, promote cleaner fuels, and conduct public awareness campaigns.
* **State Governments (e.g., Rajasthan, Maharashtra):**
* *Impact:* Responsible for overseeing the implementation of NCAP within their respective states.
* *Action Required:* Allocate and utilize funds effectively to support city action plans and monitor progress in air quality improvement.
* **Citizens:**
* *Impact:* Benefit from improved air quality and reduced health risks associated with pollution.
* *Action Required:* Participate in public awareness campaigns, adopt eco-friendly practices, and support local initiatives to reduce pollution.
* **Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change:**
* *Impact:* Oversees the NCAP and monitors its impact on air quality across the country.
* *Action Required:* Provide funding and guidance to state and city administrations, track progress towards achieving air quality targets, and make necessary adjustments to the program based on performance.
Key Entities Referenced
National Clean Air Programme: A programme (NCAP) launched by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in January 2019 to improve air quality in 130 non-attainment and MillionPlus Cities in 24 States/UTs.
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change: The Indian government ministry (MoEFCC) responsible for implementing the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP).
National Ambient Air Quality Standards: The (NAAQS) standards used to assess air quality, specifically PM10 levels, to identify non-attainment cities for inclusion in the NCAP.
National Capital Territory of Delhi: A state/union territory in India, one of the areas specifically mentioned in the context of NCAP implementation and air quality improvement efforts.
Rajasthan: A state in India, one of the areas specifically mentioned in the context of NCAP implementation and air quality improvement efforts.
Maharashtra State: A state in India with 19 cities covered under the NCAP, receiving significant funding for air quality improvement measures.
Mumbai: A city in Maharashtra State, specifically mentioned as one of the areas where air quality improvement measures are being implemented under the NCAP.
Thane District: A district in Maharashtra State, specifically mentioned as one of the areas where air quality improvement measures are being implemented under the NCAP.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2320
TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.08.2025
Impact of National Clean Air Programme
2320. SHRI P P CHAUDHARY:
DR. HEMANT VISHNU SAVARA:
SHRI KOTA SRINIVASA POOJARY:
SHRI TRIVENDRA SINGH RAWAT:
SHRI DILIP SAIKIA:
SHRI DINESHBHAI MAKWANA:
SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO:
SHRI GODAM NAGESH:
SHRI MANOJ TIWARI:
SMT. KAMALJEET SEHRAWAT:
SHRI KANWAR SINGH TANWAR:
DR. MANNA LAL RAWAT:
SHRI DAMODAR AGRAWAL:
SHRI BALABHADRA MAJHI:
Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to
state:
(a) the impact of the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) on improving air quality in
the country, State-wise including Rajasthan, Maharashtra and National Capital
Territory of Delhi;
(b) whether the Government is planning to expand beyond the existing 130 cities, if so,
the number of additional cities proposed to be included and the timeline fixed in this
regard;
(c) whether there is any specific scheme or component under NCAP focused on improving
the Air Quality Index (AQI) of the National Capital Region (NCR), if so, the details
thereof along with the funds allocated and utilised for Delhi under the said programme;
and
(d) the status of the National Clean Air Programme in the State of Maharashtra specially
Mumbai, Thane and Palghar districts?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND
CLIMATE CHANGE
(SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH)
(a) to (d): 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
non-attainment and Million-Plus Cities in 24 States/UTs including Maharashtra, Rajasthan andNational Capital Territory of Delhi. The programme included non-attainment cities based on
the cities that have exceeded National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for PM10
levels consecutively for a period of 5 years during 2014-2019.
The focused actions by 130 cities under NCAP have shown positive results with 103 cities
showing reduction in PM concentration in FY 2024-25 with respect to FY 2017-18. A total of
10
22 Cities have met National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) and have PM
10
Concentrations less than 60 µg/m3. Details of air quality improvement in cities covered under
NCAP is placed at Annexure I.
6 cities (Delhi, Alwar, Faridabad, Noida, Ghaziabad & Meerut) are part of Delhi National
Capital Region (NCR) and are funded under National Clean Air Programme for improvement
of air quality. The measures taken by cities under NCAP include preparation of State and City
Action Plan, implementation of road improvement works for dust control, such as end-to-end
paving, mechanized road sweeping, greening of open spaces and traffic corridors, improvement
of traffic junctions for decongestion, conversion of crematoriums into cleaner fuels or
installation of pollution control devices in conventional crematoriums, organizing public
outreach and awareness campaigns involving youth through ‘MY Bharat’ platform. All 6 cities
of Delhi NCR have shown improvement in PM10 concentration in FY 2024-25 with respect to
FY 2017-18.
An amount of Rs. 62.03 crore has been provided to Delhi under NCAP during FY 2019-20 till
FY 2025-26. Out of this, Rs. 13.94 crore has been utilized till date.
19 cities of Maharashtra State are covered under the NCAP for taking air quality improvement
measures in respective cities. So far, an amount of Rs. 1,774.62 crore has been provided to
Maharashtra for implementation of city action plans. The focused actions by Maharashtra State
such as end-to-end pavement of roads, legacy waste remediation, procurement of EV buses for
public transport, traffic junction improvement and crematorium switching to cleaner fuels have
shown improvement in PM10 levels in 15 out of 19 cities in FY 2024-25 with respect to the FY
2017-18. Details of funds provided to cities of Maharashtra including Mumbai, Thane and
Palghar Districts under NCAP are enclosed at Annexure II.
***Annexure I
Annual Average PM Concentration for FY 2024-25 with respect to FY 2017-18
10
FY FY % improvement
Sl.
States Cities Type 2017- 2024- in 2024-25 w.r.t.
No.
2018 25 FY 2017-18
1 Ananthpur NAC 78 60 23.1
2 Chittur NAC 70 60 14.3
3 Eluru NAC 72 64 11.1
4 Guntur NAC 66 64 3.0
5 Kadapa NAC 75 56 25.3
6 Kurnool NAC 79 60 24.1
Andhra Pradesh 7 Nellore NAC 64 51 20.3
8 Ongole NAC 65 58 10.8
9 Rajamuhndary NAC 85 59 30.6
10 Srikakulam NAC 69 79 -14.5
11 Vijayawada MPC 91 64 29.7
12 Visakhapatnam MPC 76 101 -32.9
13 Vizhianagaram NAC 72 74 -2.8
14 Guwahati NAC 103 100 2.9
15 Nagaon NAC 82 65 20.7
Assam 16 Nalbari NAC 87 85 2.3
17 Silchar NAC 49 54 -10.2
18 Sivasagar NAC 73 55 24.7
19 Patna MPC 172 167 2.9
Bihar 20 Gaya NAC 79 87 -10.1
21 Muzaffarpur NAC 147 131 10.9
Chandigarh 22 Chandigarh NAC 114 114 0.0
23 Korba NAC 57 69 -21.1
Chattisgarh 24 Durg Bhilainagar MPC 86 69 19.8
25 Raipur MPC 70 75 -7.1
Delhi 26 Delhi NAC 241 203 15.8
27 Ahmedabad MPC 164 103 37.2
28 Rajkot MPC 150 89 40.7
Gujarat
29 Surat MPC 130 71 45.4
30 Vadodara MPC 133 90 32.3
Haryana 31 Faridabad MPC 229** 147 35.8
32 Baddi NAC 174 108 37.9
33 Damtal NAC 55 56 -1.8
Himachal
34 Kala Amb NAC 118 84 28.8
Pradesh
35 Nalagarh NAC 146 68 53.4
36 Paonta Sahib NAC 84 81 3.6FY FY % improvement
Sl.
States Cities Type 2017- 2024- in 2024-25 w.r.t.
No.
2018 25 FY 2017-18
37 Parwanoo NAC 66 48 27.3
38 Sunder Nagar NAC 78 47 39.7
Jammu and 39 Jammu NAC 157 124 21.0
Kashmir 40 Srinagar NAC 132** 76 42.4
41 Dhanbad MPC 315 166 47.3
Jharkhand 42 Jamshedpur MPC 135 145 -7.4
43 Ranchi MPC 141 107 24.1
44 Bengaluru MPC 92 68 26.1
45 Devanagere NAC 74 57 23.0
Karnataka Gulburga /
46 NAC 55 52
Kalaburgi 5.5
47 Hubli-Dharwad NAC 79 61 22.8
48 Bhopal MPC 112 107 4.5
49 Dewas NAC 83 86 -3.6
50 Gwalior MPC 126 117 7.1
Madhya Pradesh 51 Indore MPC 82 83 -1.2
52 Jabalpur MPC 101 73 27.7
53 Sagar NAC 73 79 -8.2
54 Ujjain NAC 93 80 14.0
55 Aurangabad MPC 75 100 -33.3
56 Akola NAC 111 74 33.3
57 Amravati NAC 102 76 25.5
58 Badlapur UA 160 90 43.8
59 Chandrapur NAC 118 111 5.9
60 Greater Mumbai MPC 161 90 44.1
61 Jalgaon NAC 70 93 -32.9
62 Jalna NAC 99 93 6.1
63 Kolhapur NAC 89 81 9.0
Maharashtra 64 Latur NAC 82 67 18.3
65 Nagpur MPC 100 92 8.0
66 Nashik MPC 82 76 7.3
67 Navi Mumbai UA 88 90 -2.3
68 Pune MPC 102 93 8.8
69 Sangli NAC 87 74 14.9
70 Solapur NAC 81 83 -2.5
71 Thane UA 138 90 34.8
72 Ulhasnagar UA 153 90 41.2
73 Vasai virar MPC 99 90 9.1
Meghalaya 74 Byrnihat NAC 175 98 44.0FY FY % improvement
Sl.
States Cities Type 2017- 2024- in 2024-25 w.r.t.
No.
2018 25 FY 2017-18
75 Dimapur NAC 142 112 21.1
Nagaland
76 Kohima NAC 127 71 44.1
77 Angul NAC 97 116 -19.6
78 Balasore NAC 84 93 -10.7
79 Bhubneshwar NAC 85 86 -1.2
Odisha 80 Cuttack NAC 93 89 4.3
81 Kalinga Nagar NAC 109 109 0.0
82 Rourkela NAC 99 111 -12.1
83 Talcher NAC 113 119 -5.3
84 Amritsar MPC 189 112 40.7
85 Dera Baba Nanak NAC 79 58 26.6
86 Dera Bassi NAC 88 98 -11.4
87 Jalandhar NAC 178 99 44.4
Punjab 88 Khanna NAC 142 101 28.9
89 Ludhiana MPC 168 129 23.2
90 Mandi Gobindgarh NAC 148 124 16.2
91 Naya Nangal NAC 87 58 33.3
92 Patiala NAC 106 91 14.2
93 Jaipur MPC 172 142 17.4
94 Alwar NAC 152 105 30.9
Rajasthan 95 Jodhpur MPC 189 122 35.4
96 Kota MPC 139 115 17.3
97 Udaipur NAC 127 121 4.7
98 Chennai MPC 66 58 12.1
99 Madurai MPC 72 61 15.3
Tamil Nadu
100 Trichy MPC 88 57 35.2
101 Tuticorin NAC 123 56 54.5
102 Hyderabad MPC 110 81 26.4
Telangana 103 Nalgonda NAC 59 78 -32.2
104 Sangareddy NAC 85 86 -1.2
105 Agra MPC 202 103 49.0
106 Allahabad MPC 169 99 41.4
107 Ghaziabad MPC 285 154 46.0
108 Kanpur MPC 227 102 55.1
Uttar Pradesh
109 Lucknow MPC 253 142 43.9
110 Meerut MPC 159 133 16.4
111 Varanasi MPC 230 59 74.3
112 Anpara NAC 175 155 11.4FY FY % improvement
Sl.
States Cities Type 2017- 2024- in 2024-25 w.r.t.
No.
2018 25 FY 2017-18
113 Bareily NAC 207 48 76.8
114 Firozabad NAC 247 100 59.5
115 Gajraula NAC 204 148 27.5
116 Gorakhpur NAC 150 105 30.0
117 Jhansi NAC 109 60 45.0
118 Khurja NAC 195 159 18.5
119 Moradabad NAC 222 96 56.8
120 Noida NAC 229 149 34.9
121 Raebareli NAC 145 79 45.5
122 Dehradun NAC 250 107 57.2
Uttarakhand 123 Kashipur NAC 99 93 6.1
124 Rishikesh NAC 129 84 34.9
125 Asansol MPC 147 131 10.9
126 Barrackpore UA 86 92 -7.0
127 Durgapur NAC 150 149 0.7
West Bengal
128 Haldia NAC 92 81 12.0
129 Howrah UA 139 92 33.8
130 Kolkata MPC 147 92 37.4
Note:
MPC – Million-Plus Cities (Cities funded under XVth Finance Commission air quality grant
(Million-Plus City Challenge Fund)
UA – Urban Agglomerations (Cities funded under XVth Finance Commission air quality grant
(Million-Plus City Challenge Fund)
NAC – Non-Attainment Cities (Cities funded under CP Scheme)
** PM levels in the FY 2017-18 for Faridabad and Srinagar are not available. PM levels of FY
10 10
2020-21 for Faridabad and PM levels of FY 2018-19 for Srinagar have been considered as a
10
baseline.Annexure II
Details of funds provided to cities of Maharashtra under NCAP
during FY 2019-20 till FY 2025-26
Released Utilized
S.No. Cities/Urban Agglomerations City name
(Rs. in cr.) (Rs. in cr.)
Greater Mumbai 629.62 523.38
Kalyan-Dombivali 65.2 23.56
1
Mira-Bhayander 42.75 25.66
Ambernath 13.96 2.69
Mumbai UA
2 Thane 93.24 71
3 Navi Mumbai 68.2 60.4
4 Ulhasnagar 27.13 24.16
5 Badlapur 12.04 8.86
6 Pune 271.3 243.13
7 Nashik 91.55 75.54
8 Aurangabad 68.3 61.47
9 Nagpur 142.05 91.67
10 Vasai virar 72.35 71.39
11 Amravati 36.81 32.83
12 Kolhapur 25.59 18.7
Other cities of Maharashtra
13 Sangli 12.93 9.44
14 Solapur 43.49 40.12
15 Akola 10.71 9.5
16 Chandrapur 12.07 6.74
17 Jalgaon 6.63 4.21
18 Jalna 7.39 6.14
19 Latur 21.33 17.37
Total 1774.64 1427.96
*****