Lucknow Emerges as India’s Best-Performing City on Air Quality
What Happened
Lucknow has emerged as the top-ranked city in the 2026 Swachh Vayu Survekshan (Clean Air Survey), scoring 198 out of 200 points, narrowly beating Indore, which scored 197 points. Jabalpur secured the third position with 195 points, while Bhopal and Agra jointly occupied fourth place with 192 points. The rankings were announced under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) and assessed cities on efforts to curb road dust, vehicular emissions, industrial pollution, and other air-quality parameters.
Key Takeaways
Indore remains one of India's cleanest and best-managed cities, but Lucknow's stronger performance on air-pollution indicators helped it claim the No. 1 position in 2026. The result signals that clean-air competition among Indian cities is becoming increasingly intense, with even small improvements making a difference in national rankings.