The Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India, and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) of India, annually publish National City Rating under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan scheme. The rating includes around 500 cities, covering 72 percent of the urban population in India.
Until 2017, India was divided into five zones for the purpose of this survey and each city was scored on 19 indicators. The cities were classified into four colours: green, blue, black, and red, green being the cleanest city, and red the most polluted. None of the cities was rated as green—the best category in the exercise. However, during the 2017-18 senses survey, the parameters of assessment were modified, and cities were categorised, based on population, into metropolis, large, medium, and small cities, and assessment took place according to this categorisation.[1]
The latest ranking of 2023 by the cleanliness survey Swachh Survekshan marks Indore as the cleanest city of India. Indore has held the title of being India's cleanest city for seven consecutive years.[2]
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs ranks cities based on cleanliness index. This list summarises the cities topping those lists annually.
| Year | First | Runner up | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| City | State | City | State | |||
| 2021 | Indore | Madhya Pradesh | Surat | Gujarat | ||
| 2020 | Metropolis | Indore | Madhya Pradesh | Surat | Gujarat | |
| Big city | Ahmedabad | Gujarat | ||||
| Medium city | Mysore | Karnataka | ||||
| Small city | Ambikapur | Chhattisgarh | ||||
| 2019 | Metropolis | Indore | Madhya Pradesh | Ambikapur | Chhattisgarh | |
| Big city | Ahmedabad | Gujarat | ||||
| Medium city | Ujjain | Madhya Pradesh | Mysore | Karnataka | ||
| Small city | New Delhi (Municipal Council) | Delhi | ||||
| 2018 | Metropolis | Indore | Madhya Pradesh | Bhopal | Madhya Pradesh | |
| Big city | Vijayawada | Andhra Pradesh | ||||
| Medium city | Mysore | Karnataka | ||||
| Small city | New Delhi (Municipal Council) | Delhi | ||||
| 2017 | Indore | Madhya Pradesh | Bhopal | Madhya Pradesh | ||
| 2016 | Mysore | Karnataka | Chandigarh | Chandigarh Territory | ||
| 2015 | Tiruchirapalli | Tamil Nadu | ||||
| 2010 | Chandigarh | Union Territory of Chandigarh | Mysore | Karnataka | ||
Swachh Sarvekshan 2023
Top 20 cleanest cities in India
Swachh Sarvekshan 2022
Top 20 cleanest cities in India over 1 million population
Top 10 cleanest cities in the Swachh Survekshan 2021 for over 1 million Population[5]
| Swachh Sarvekshan Rank | City | State/Union Territory | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Madhya Pradesh | ||
| 2 | Gujarat | ||
| 3 | Andhra Pradesh | ||
| 4 | Maharashtra | ||
| 5 | Maharashtra | ||
| 6 | Chhattisgarh | ||
| 7 | Madhya Pradesh | ||
| 8 | Gujarat | ||
| 9 | Andhra Pradesh | ||
| 10 | Gujarat | ||
| Source: Ministry of Urban Development | |||
The results of the fifth edition of the nationwide annual cleanliness survey, 'Swachh Survekshan 2020,' are out and Madhya Pradesh's Indore has yet again made it as India's cleanest city. Gujarat's Surat emerged as India's second cleanest city, followed by Navi Mumbai which bagged the third spot in Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs' swachhta city survey report.[6] [7] [8]
Swachh Survekshan 2020 covered 4,242 cities, 62 cantonment boards and 92 Ganga towns. This survey was carried out in 28 days.[9]
List of Cleanest Cities in India 2020, are as follows:
| Swachh Survekshan Rank | City | State/Union Territory | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Indore | Madhya Pradesh | |
| 2 | Surat | Gujarat | |
| 3 | Navi Mumbai | Maharashtra | |
| 4 | Ambikapur | Chhattisgarh | |
| 5 | Mysore | Karnataka | |
| 6 | Vijayawada | Andhra Pradesh | |
| 7 | Ahmedabad | Gujarat | |
| 8 | New Delhi (NDMC) | Delhi | |
| 9 | Chandrapur | Maharashtra | |
| 10 | Khargone | Madhya Pradesh | |
| Source: Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.[10] | |||
The dimensions of assessment increased during the 2017–18 survey, identifying cities and states to excel in different aspects of environment, energy, and cleanliness.
Swachh Survekshan 2017 was an extensive sanitation survey across 500 cities in India. The Ministry of Urban Development commissioned Quality Council of India to conduct this survey; to check the progress and impact of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched in 2014. It aims to foster a spirit of competition among the cities and offers a comprehensive assessment of their sanitation status.
The performance of each city was evaluated on five key thematic parameters-
Swachh Sarvekshan 2017 was conducted between 4 January 2017 and 7 February 2017.[11] The results of top 30 cities are as follows:
| Swachh Sarvekshan Rank | City | State/Union Territory | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Madhya Pradesh | ||
| 2 | Madhya Pradesh | ||
| 3 | Andhra Pradesh | ||
| 4 | Gujarat | ||
| 5 | Karnataka | ||
| 6 | Tamil Nadu | ||
| 7 | Delhi | ||
| 8 | Maharashtra | ||
| 9 | Andhra Pradesh | ||
| 10 | Gujarat | ||
| 11 | Chandigarh | ||
| 12 | Madhya Pradesh | ||
| 13 | Maharashtra | ||
| 14 | Gujarat | ||
| 15 | Chhattisgarh | ||
| 16 | Tamil Nadu | ||
| 17 | Madhya Pradesh | ||
| 18 | Gujarat | ||
| 19 | Andhra Pradesh | ||
| 20 | Gujarat | ||
| 21 | Madhya Pradesh | ||
| 22 | Telangana | ||
| 23 | Madhya Pradesh | ||
| 24 | Madhya Pradesh | ||
| 25 | Gujarat | ||
| 26 | Gujarat | ||
| 27 | Madhya pradesh | ||
| 28 | Telangana | ||
| 29 | Maharashta | ||
| 30 | Telangana | ||
| Source: Ministry of Urban Development[12] | |||
The Union Ministry of Urban Development commissioned an extensive survey to study the progress of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Swachh Bharat Mission and to rank 73 cities on sanitation and cleanliness. The survey, the first for the Swachh Bharat Mission, was conducted by the Quality Council of India (QCI) and was named Swachh Sarvekshan. It covered all state capitals and another 53 cities with a population of above one million. It involved three streams of data collection - interaction with municipal body, direct observation and citizen feedback. Swachh Sarvekshan evaluated the work done in the following six measurable aspects of sanitation and hygiene:
Swachh Sarvekshan 2016 was conducted between 5 January 2016 and 20 January 2016.[13] The Results, as per the latest available sources, are as follows:
| Rank | City | State/Territory | Rating points (out of 20) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18.50 | ||||
| 2 | 14.25 | ||||
| 3 | 14.18 | ||||
| 4 | 14.07 | ||||
| 5 | 13.58 | ||||
| 6 | 13.52 | ||||
| 7 | Bengaluru | 13.27 | |||
| 8 | 12.98 | ||||
| 9 | 12.75 | ||||
| 10 | 12.68 | ||||
| Source: Ministry of Urban Development[15] | |||||
| Rank | City | State/Territory | PM10 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 23 | ||||
| 2 | 31 | ||||
| 3 | 33 | ||||
| 4 | 36 | ||||
| 5 | 36 | ||||
| Source: Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) India | |||||
| Rank | City | State/Territory | Rating points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 73.48 | ||||
| 2 | 70.65 | ||||
| 3 | 69.08 | ||||
| 4 | 68.265 | ||||
| 5 | 61.367 | ||||
| 6 | 59.02 | ||||
| 7 | Jamshedpur | 57.960 | |||
| 8 | 57.340 | ||||
| 9 | 56.118 | ||||
| 10 | 55.340 | ||||
| 11 | 53.920 | ||||
| 12 | 53.637 | ||||
| 13 | 53.630 | ||||
| 14 | 53.400 | ||||
| 15 | 53.330 | ||||
| 16 | 52.820 | ||||
| 17 | 51.910 | ||||
| 18 | 51.550 | ||||
| 19 | 50.286 | ||||
| 20 | 50.240 | ||||
| 21 | 49.850 | ||||
| 22 | 49.820 | ||||
| 23 | 49.666 | ||||
| 24 | 49.060 | ||||
| 25 | 48.965 | ||||
| Source: Ministry of Urban Development[18] | |||||