A national ranking table was announced as part of the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) during the 2026 Clean Air Review. In the category of cities with a population over one million, the capital of Uttar Pradesh state, Lucknow, achieved first place nationally, marking a historic event.
Lucknow surpassed Indore from Madhya Pradesh, which had long held leading positions, securing the top spot in the country with a score of 198 points. This review placed 16 cities of Uttar Pradesh in various categories.
Rajnath Singh, Minister of Defence and MLA from Lucknow, stated on X that he is very pleased that Lucknow secured the first position among cities with the best scores in NCAP under the 2026 urban clean air review organized by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change. He congratulated all the residents of Lucknow on this achievement.
He also expressed gratitude to the Mayor of Lucknow, Sushma Kharkwal, the city council, and the MLAs for their dedicated work in recent years aimed at improving Lucknow across all cleanliness indicators. Rajnath Singh also thanked the Uttar Pradesh government for its full cooperation in this matter and wished Lucknow to continue demonstrating high results in urban cleanliness.
The UP government reported that Lucknow ranked first with 198 points, while Indore received 197 points, and Jabalpur received 195 points. The rating was based on data collected by the Central Pollution Control Board and the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change. In the category of cities with a population over one million, Agra ranked fourth with 192 points, Ghaziabad ranked ninth with 184 points, Kanpur ranked eleventh with 183.2 points, and Prayagraj ranked thirteenth with 180 points. Meerut and Varanasi ranked 22nd and 34th, respectively.
In the category of cities with a population between three hundred thousand and one million, Firozabad ranked second with 195 points, and Chhansi ranked fifth with 192.5 points. Muradabad and Noida jointly ranked eighth with 187.5 points. Gorakhpur and Bareilly ranked 22nd and 26th, respectively.
Among cities with a population of less than three hundred thousand, Raebareli is in 17th place, followed by Anpara in 29th, Hurja in 30th, and Gajawala in 31st place.
At the district level, Lucknow's District 70 ranked first in the national ranking among urban districts with a population over 30,000, and Prayagraj's District 31 ranked third in the category with a population between 10,000 and 30,000.
UP Minister of Urban Development and Energy, Arvind Kumar Sharma, noted that Lucknow's first place is a significant achievement for the state. According to him, Lucknow has surpassed Indore for the first time, taking the number one spot nationally for maintaining clean air, which has become a new motivation for Uttar Pradesh.
The government indicated that the ranking reflects the coordinated efforts of the Urban Development Department, local authorities, and the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board under NCAP. The Lucknow City Council received a first prize of 1.5 crore rupees, and the Firozabad City Council received 25 lakh rupees. Lucknow's District 70 received 50 lakh rupees, and Prayagraj's District 31 received 20 lakh rupees.
The government attributed Lucknow's success to measures such as the development of electric transport, dust control on roads, scientific waste management, and expansion of green cover. It was noted that about 1100 electric vehicles are used for door-to-door garbage collection, and 140 electric buses operate in the city, along with 97 mechanized cleaning machines, 12 charging stations, and 916 charging points. Furthermore, 559.85 kilometers of roads have been fully asphalted, and Lucknow operates a scientific waste processing system with a capacity of 2550 tons daily.
Lucknow Mayor Sushma Kharkwal attributed the success to the collective efforts of the government, residents, MLAs, and city council employees.