According to a recent study by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), air pollution in India remained a significant problem at the start of 2026. Air quality breaches across Indian cities showed that many towns didn’t meet national and global air quality standards. CREA analyzed data from 248 Indian cities using air-quality monitoring station data, and almost half of them, 123 cities, had average monthly PM2.5 levels above India’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) of 60 μg/m³. None of them met the World Health Organization’s (WHO) safe daily guideline of 15 μg/m³.

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NCAP and Non-NCAP Cities Show Similar Trends

Cities in the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) and those not in the programme had similar pollution levels. Of the 97 NCAP cities with enough data, 46 were above India’s daily PM2.5 standard, and all 97 were above the WHO guideline, which indicates that even cities targeted for clean-air efforts still experienced high levels of pollution.

The same was true for cities not in the NCAP, as all 151 of these cities with enough data exceeded the WHO guideline, and 77 were above India’s NAAQS limit. CREA noted that pollution levels are high regardless of the programme’s status, indicating fundamental issues in how air quality is managed.

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Most Polluted Cities and State-Level Hotspots

Ghaziabad was the most polluted city in India in January 2026, with an average monthly PM2.5 level of 184 μg/m³. The city had 24 ‘Very Poor’ days, 4 ‘Severe’ days, 2 ‘Poor’ days, and 1 ‘Moderate’ day.

Delhi was close behind, with an average of 169 μg/m³, with ‘Very Poor’ air quality for 24 days and ‘Severe’ for three days, and other cities in the top ten included Noida, Gurgaon, Greater Noida, Dharuhera, Gangtok, Singrauli, Bhiwadi, and Narnaul. Rajasthan had the most cities exceeding standards, with 23 out of 34, followed by Haryana, Bihar, Odisha, and Uttar Pradesh.

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Cleanest Cities and Call for Policy Reforms

Most of India had unhealthy air quality in January; only 21 cities were in the ‘Good’ category, 103 were in the ‘Satisfactory’ category, 92 were ‘Moderate’, 21 experienced ‘Poor’, and 11 were ‘Very Poor’. Damoh in Madhya Pradesh is the cleanest city, with a PM2.5 level of 17 μg/m³.

Among major cities, Delhi and Kolkata exceeded the NAAQS, whereas Chennai, Mumbai, and Bengaluru were below the national limits. Manoj Kumar, an India Analyst at CREA, said that the NCAP revision should focus on PM2.5 and its precursor gases, adopt an airshed-based approach, and enforce stricter industrial standards to address ongoing air quality breaches across Indian cities.

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