44% Indian Cities Suffer From Chronic Air Pollution, Only 4% Under NCAP: Report

Almost 44 per cent of Indian cities have a chronic air pollution issue, indicating that air pollution is a structural problem which has been driven by persistent emission sources not a short-term episodic issue.

These are the findings from an analysis by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) has found. While 44 per cent of Indian cities have a chronic air pollution issue, only four per cent of them are covered by the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), the report added.

“Out of 4,041, at least 1,787 cities exceeded the national annual PM2.5 standard every year across five recent years (2019-2024), excluding the COVID-affected year of 2020. This means nearly 44 per cent of Indian cities face chronic air pollution, indicating a structural problem driven by persistent emission sources rather than short-term episodes,” the report said.

The 2025 PM2.5 assessment shows that Byrnihat in Meghalaya, Delhi, and Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh are India’s top three most polluted cities with annual concentrations of 100 µg/m³, 96 µg/m³, and 93 µg/m³, respectively. Noida follows.

“Yet, India’s flagship NCAP covers only a fraction of this burden. Just 130 cities were included under NCAP, and only 67 overlap with the 1,787 persistently non-attainment cities. As a result, NCAP currently addresses only 4 per cent of India’s chronically polluted cities, leaving the vast majority outside targeted clean air action,” the report added.

Out of 130 NCAP cities, the reported noted that 28 lacked continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations (CAAQMS), and among the 102 cities with stations, 100 cities reported 80 per cent or higher PM10 levels.

“Progress on PM10 control remains mixed. Twenty-three cities have achieved the revised 40 per cent PM10 reduction target, 28 cities have recorded 21-40 per cent reduction, 26 cities show modest improvements of 1-20 per cent, while 23 cities have in fact experienced an increase in PM10 levels since the programme’s inception,” the report said.

“For PM10, Delhi tops the list with an annual average of 197 µg/m³, three times the national standard. Ghaziabad and Greater Noida follow with averages of 190 µg/m³ and 188 µg/m³, respectively," it added.

The report pointed out that Uttar Pradesh had 416 non-attainment cities, followed by Rajasthan (158), Gujarat (152), Madhya Pradesh (143), Punjab and Bihar (136 each) and West Bengal (124).