Parliament Question: Utilisation of Funds under NCAP, 2026

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5757 TO BE ANSWERED ON 30.03.2026 Utilisation of Funds under NCAP, 2026

5757. SHRI KRISHNA PRASAD TENNETI:

SHRI SHANKAR LALWANI:

SHRI P P CHAUDHARY:

SHRI PRADEEP PUROHIT:

SHRI DILESHWAR KAMAIT:

SMT. KAMLESH JANGDE:

SHRI PRADEEP KUMAR SINGH:

SMT. APARAJITA SARANGI:

SHRI VISHWESHWAR HEGDE KAGERI:

SHRI BIBHU PRASAD TARAI:

SHRI DILIP SAIKIA:

SHRI CHANDRA PRAKASH CHOUDHARY:

DR. MANNA LAL RAWAT:

SHRI MANOJ TIWARI:

SHRI SATISH KUMAR GAUTAM:

SHRI BHARTRUHARI MAHTAB:

SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO:

Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government is on track to meet the revised 40 per cent PM10 reduction target by the end of 2026 and if not, the reasons for the delay and the steps being taken to mitigate the same;

(b) the manner in which expansion of the monitoring network to 1600 stations improved the accuracy of air quality data;

(c) the details of specific progress made in conducting source apportionment studies for the remaining 40 non-attainment cities;

(d) whether the Government has successfully utilised the Rs.13,415 crore that were released under National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) and the 15th Finance Commission and if so, the details thereof; and

(e) whether the Airshed Approach has been successfully implemented to address regional pollution clusters in the Indo-Gangetic Plain and if so, the details of result achieved so far? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH)(a) to (e): To address air pollution in the country, the Government of India has launched the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) in 2019 as a long-term, time-bound, national-level strategy to improve air quality in 130 cities (non-attainment cities and Million Plus Cities) in 24 States/UTs by engaging all stakeholders.

City Specific Clean Air Action Plans prepared by 130 cities under NCAP are implemented to reduce air pollution sources like soil & road dust, vehicular emissions, construction & demolition activities, waste burning and industrial pollution, etc.

Out of the amount of Rs.13,415 crore (released as on November, 2025) provided to 130 cities under 15th Finance Commission’s Million Plus City Challenge Fund (MPCCF) and Control of Pollution Scheme of MoEF&CC, cities have reported the utilization of Rs. 10,611.52 crore.

Focused actions by 130 cities under NCAP have shown positive results with 103 cities showing reduction in PM10 concentration in 2024-25 with respect to 2017-18, 64 cities have shown reduction in PM10 levels by more than 20% with respect to base year 2017-18 and 25 of these cities have achieved a reduction of more than 40%. A total of 22 Cities have met NAAQS and have PM10 Concentrations less than 60 µg/m3.

CPCB has issued guidelines for establishing Ambient Air Quality Monitoring stations namely, “Guidelines for the Measurement of Ambient Air Pollutants (Volume-I: Guidelines for Manual Sampling & Analyses, and Volume-II: Guidelines for Real Time Sampling & Analyses)”. Further, CPCB has also issued “Technical Handbook for Installation, Maintenance, Calibration, Data Connectivity and Data Quality check of Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring System (Real Time)”.

The Hand Book provides for conducting Annual Audit of CAAQMs by third party who should have accreditation of ISO 17025 and having expertise in the O&M of CAAQM System to ensure the proper functioning of the system in respect of operation of analysers, their maintenance & calibration, data quality, operator skills, etc.

Concerned State Pollution Control Boards/Pollution Control Committees install monitoring stations to collect ambient air quality, in line with the criteria issued by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and these are run, operated and maintained by the respective agencies as per the aforementioned framework.

Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations are equipped with state of art reference-grade systems, delivering continuous and near real-time data. These monitoring systems provide accurate, traceable, and reliable data, which is essential for compliance assessment under the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).

Central Pollution Control Board issued “Conceptual Guidelines and Common Methodology for Air Quality Monitoring, Emission Inventory (EI) & Source Apportionment (SA) Studies for Indian Cities.” SPCBs/PCCs take up Source Apportionment Studies through various academic/ research institutes for respective cities under NCAP in line with the CPCB guidelines to identify various factors contributing to air pollution and prioritise the air quality improvement measures under city action plans. Source Apportionment (SA) studies have been carried out in 90 cities of NCAP and remaining 40 cities have initiated the studies and are at various stages.With a view to abate and control air pollution in Delhi-NCR, the Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) has adopted an air-shed-based approach to implement the air pollution control measures through coordinated actions of various agencies of Central, State and local Governments. Accordingly, all states under Delhi NCR have prepared Short-term and long-term action plan under the coordination of CAQM, for prevention and mitigation of air pollution in Delhi NCR.

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