National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) was launched by Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in January 2019 with an aim to improve air quality in 130 cities (non-attainment cities and Million Plus Cities in 24 States/UTs through implementation of National, State and City level clean air action plans. NCAP envisages reduction in PM10 level up to 40% or achievement of national standards (60 microgram/cubic meter) by 2025-26.

In addition to this, NCAP emphasises on implementation of City Action Plans (CAPs) through the convergence of resources from various Central Government schemes such as Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban), AMRUT, Smart City Mission, SATAT, and Nagar Van Yojana, as well as resources from State Govts./ UT administration and agencies like Municipal Corporations and Urban Development authorities.

Under the Programme, Rs.16,539 Cr. has been allocated for the period 2019-20 till 2025-26, and Rs. 9595.66 Cr has been released so far to 48 Million Plus Cities & Urban Agglomerations under XVth Finance Commission Million Plus City Challenge Fund (MPCCF) as a performance linked incentives for implementing air quality measures under city action plans.

As per the annual performance assessment carried out for 2023-24, 97 cities out of 130 cities have shown improvement in air quality in terms of PM10 concentrations in FY 2023-24 as compared to 2017-18. 55 cities have achieved reduction of 20% and above in PM10 levels in 2023-24 with respect to the levels of 2017-18. Further, 18 cities conform to national ambient air quality standards in terms of Particular Matter concentrations during FY 2023-24.

Details of air quality improvement of 130 cities are enclosed at Annexure-I.

 

Annexure I

 

Improvement in PM10 concentrations of 130 Cities in FY 2023-24 w.r.t. FY 2017-18
S. No.	Cities	PM10 concentrations in 2017-18 (µg/m3) (Annual Avg.)	PM10 concentrations in 2023-24 (µg/m3) (Annual Avg.)	Percentage reduction in PM10 concentrations in 2023-24 with respect to the year 2017-18 (%)
	Varanasi*	230	73	68
	Bareily	207	80	61
	Firozabad	247	102	59
	Dehradun	250	109	56
	Dhanbad*	315	138	56
	Thoothukudi	123	57	54
	Nalagarh	146	68	53
	Moradabad	222	115	48
	Khurja	195	104	47
	Trichy*	88	47	47
	Kohima	127	68	46
	Lucknow*	253	137	46
	Kanpur*	227	125	45
	Kadapa	75	42	44
	Sibsagar	73	41	44
	Sunder Nagar	78	44	44
	Agra*	202	116	43
	Mumbai*	161	94	42
	Rishikesh	129	76	41
	Parwanoo	66	39	41
	Byrnihat	175	104	41
	Ahmedabad*	164	98	40
	Ghaziabad*	285	172	40
	Rajkot*	150	92	39
	Jalandhar	178	111	38
	Raebareli	145	91	37
	Amritsar*	189	119	37
	Baddi	174	111	36
	Kolkata*	147	94	36
	Jammu	157	101	36
	Silchar	49	32	35
	Jodhpur*	189	124	34
	Vijayawada*	91	61	33
	Naya Nangal	87	59	32
	Dimapur	142	97	32
	Khanna	142	100	30
	Durgapur	150	106	29
	Kurnool	79	56	29
	Pathankot/Dera Baba	79	56	29
	Vadodara*	133	95	29
	Allahabad*	169	124	27
	Asansol*	147	108	27
	Srinagar	132**	96	27
	Hyderabad*	110	81	26
	Gorakhpur	150	111	26
	Anantapur	78	59	24
	Ranchi*	141	107	24
	Bangalore*	92	70	24
	Akola	111	85	23
	Bhilai*	86	68	21
	Surat*	130	103	21
	Noida	229	182	21
	Howrah	139	111	20
	Thane	138	111	20
	Latur	82	66	20
	Nellore	64	52	19
	Gajraula	204	167	18
	Faridabad*	229**	190	17
	Alwar	152	127	16
	Chittoor	70	59	16
	Kala Amb	118	100	15
	Gobindgarh	148	126	15
	Amravati	102	87	15
	Patiala	106	91	14
	Jaipur*	172	148	14
	Ongole	65	56	14
	Delhi	241	208	14
	Chandrapur	118	102	14
	Nashik*	82	72	12
	Jhansi	109	96	12
	Sangli	87	77	11
	Devanagere	74	66	11
	Kota*	139	124	11
	Rajahmundry	85	76	11
	Hubli-Dharwad	79	71	10
	Jabalpur*	101	91	10
	Ujjain	93	84	10
	Guntur	66	61	8
	Kalinga Nagar	109	101	7
	Meerut*	159	149	6
	Nagpur*	100	94	6
	Eluru	72	68	6
	Madurai*	72	68	6
	Damtal	55	52	5
	Haldia	92	87	5
	Anpara	175	166	5
	Badlapur	160	152	5
	Udaipur	127	121	5
	Sangareddy	85	81	5
	Chennai*	66	63	5
	Ludhiana*	168	161	4
	Pune*	102	98	4
	Jamshedpur*	135	130	4
	Kolhapur	89	86	3
	Ulhasnagar	153	149	3
	Srikakulam	69	68	1
	Kashipur	99	98	1
	Talcher	113	113	0
	Nalgonda	59	59	0
	Bhopal*	112	113	-1
	Sagar	73	74	-1
	Vizianagaram	72	73	-1
	Chandigarh	114	116	-2
	Gulburga	55	56	-2
	Jalna	99	102	-3
	Patna*	172	178	-3
	Korba	57	59	-4
	Paonta Sahib	84	90	-7
	Gwalior*	126	136	-8
	Raipur*	70	76	-9
	Navi Mumbai	88	98	-11
	Rourkela	99	111	-12
	Muzaffarpur	147	168	-14
	Barrackpore	86	99	-15
	Guwahati	103	119	-16
	Dera Bassi	88	102	-16
	Solapur	81	96	-19
	Dewas	83	99	-19
	Indore*	82	99	-21
	Vasai-Virar*	99	125	-26
	Nagaon	82	107	-30
	Aurangabad*	75	98	-31
	Gaya	79	104	-32
	Bhubaneswar	85	114	-34
	Jalgaon	70	97	-39
	Cuttack	93	129	-39
	Nalbari	87	127	-46
	Balasore	84	124	-48
	Visakhapatnam*	76	120	-58
	Angul	97	167	-72

* Cities are funded under XVth Finance Commission air quality grant (Million Plus City Challenge Fund)

** PM₁₀ levels in the FY 2017-18 for Faridabad and Srinagar are not available. PM₁₀ levels of FY 2020-21 for Faridabad and PM₁₀ levels of FY 2018-19 for Srinagar have been considered as a baseline.

Note: Patancheru non-attainment city has been merged with Hyderabad Urban Agglomeration and accordingly revised number of cities covered under NCAP is 130.

 

This information was given by Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Shri Kirti Vardhan Singh in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.

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