Top Clean Cities in India 2025-26 List, Rankings and Awards

Top Clean Cities in India are recognised through Swachh Survekshan, an annual cleanliness survey conducted by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban. The survey evaluates cities based on sanitation, waste management, visible cleanliness and citizen participation. In the Swachh Survekshan 2025-26, Navi Mumbai emerged as the top clean city under the Super Swachh League, followed by Surat and Vijayawada. These rankings highlight India’s efforts towards cleaner, healthier and more sustainable urban development. 

What Are Top Clean Cities in India?

The Swachh Survekshan Awards 2025-26, announced on 11 November 2026, recognised India’s cleanest cities for their achievements in sanitation, waste management and public cleanliness.

• Navi Mumbai (Maharashtra) emerged as India’s top clean city under the Super Swachh League, followed by Surat (Gujarat) and Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh).
• Indore, which had dominated the national cleanliness rankings for eight consecutive years, was recognised under the newly introduced Swachh Shehar Jodi category.
• President Droupadi Murmu presented the awards at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.
• The 10th edition of the survey covered 4,751 urban local bodies (ULBs) across India.

Which City Is Ranked the Cleanest City in India?

The Swachh Survekshan 2025-26 rankings recognised cities across different population groups to ensure fair assessment of both large and small urban areas.

Clean Cities of Super Swachh League

The Super Swachh League recognises cities with consistently strong cleanliness performance. The table below lists the top-ranked cities along with their states. 

Cleanest Cities by Population Category

Swachh Survekshan ranks cities across different population categories. The table below lists the top three cleanest cities in each category.

Cleanest Cities in Special Categories

Swachh Survekshan ranks cities across different population categories. The table below lists the top three cleanest cities in each category.

Ranking Under Swachh Survekshan

Swachh Survekshan is an annual cleanliness survey conducted under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban, overseen by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).

• Objective: To assess urban sanitation, encourage healthy competition among cities and promote public participation in cleanliness.
• Survey Coverage: Expanded from 73 cities in 2016 to 4,751 cities in 2025-26.
• Theme 2025-26: “Swachhata Ki Nayi Pehel – Badhayein Haath, Karein Safai Saath.”
• Assessment: More than 3,000 trained assessors carried out field inspections using GPS-enabled monitoring.
• Digital Evaluation: Evidence submission, verification and quality checks were conducted digitally.
• Citizen Participation: Around 2.70 crore citizens provided feedback.

Key Parameters Used for Cleanliness Rankings

Cities were evaluated using 43 indicators across 10 major assessment areas, including:

• Waste Management: Waste segregation, collection, transportation and scientific processing.
• Visible Cleanliness: Clean roads, streets and public spaces.
• Sanitation Facilities: Access to toilets and mechanised desludging.
• Used Water Management: Proper treatment and disposal of wastewater.
• Institutional Performance: Strengthening sanitation systems and administrative capacity.
• Sanitation Workers’ Welfare: Safety, well-being and working conditions.
• Citizen Participation: Public awareness, cleanliness campaigns, feedback and grievance redressal.

What Is the Swachh Shehar Jodi Initiative?

The Swachh Shehar Jodi (SSJ) initiative is a city-to-city mentorship programme under Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban that helps lower-performing cities improve their cleanliness standards.

• Objective: To connect high-performing mentor cities with lower-performing mentee cities for knowledge-sharing and better waste management.
• Approach: Based on the principle of “Each One, Teach One”, inspired by the Guru-Shishya tradition.
• Coverage: The initiative has paired 70 mentor cities with 191 mentee cities.
• Assessment: The rankings are based on the combined cleanliness performance of mentor and mentee cities.

Top 3 Swachh Shehar Jodi Winners 2025-26

The Swachh Shehar Jodi rankings are based on the combined cleanliness performance of mentor and mentee cities. The table below lists the top three winning pairs for 2025-26. 

Improvements in Mentee Cities

The programme helped participating cities improve several sanitation indicators between 2024-25 and 2025-26.

What Are the Major Highlights of Swachh Survekshan 2025-26?

The latest survey highlighted significant improvements in urban sanitation, waste management and community participation.

• National Recognition: A total of 60 national awards were announced across various cleanliness categories.
• Improved City Rankings: More than 350 ULBs improved their rankings by over 500 positions.
• Smaller Cities’ Performance: Over 1,700 cities with populations below 50,000 improved their rankings compared to 2024-25.
• State-Level Awards: 30 cities received the State First Swachh City Award for their performance.
• Madhya Pradesh: Led the states with nine national cleanliness awards.
• PRAGATI-50 Initiative: Aims to develop 50 Model Clean Cities through technology-driven solutions and continuous monitoring.
• Public Participation: Nearly 2.10 crore citizens participated in the Swachhata Hi Seva 2026 campaign.
• Sanitation Workers: Around 17 lakh SafaiMitras benefited from more than 33,000 special camps.
• Student Awareness: Nearly 4 lakh children participated in Gyan Yatras to promote cleanliness.

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Government Initiatives Promote Cleanliness in Indian Cities

The Government of India has launched several initiatives to improve urban sanitation, strengthen waste management and encourage public participation in keeping cities clean and healthy.

• Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U): Launched on 2 October 2014, the mission aims to eliminate open defecation, improve sanitation facilities and promote scientific waste management in urban areas.
• Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0: Launched in 2021, it seeks to make Indian cities Garbage Free through better solid and liquid waste management, wastewater treatment and the removal of legacy waste dumpsites.
• Swachh Survekshan: An annual cleanliness survey conducted by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), it ranks cities on sanitation, waste management, visible cleanliness and citizen participation.
• Swachh Shehar Jodi (SSJ): A mentor-mentee initiative that pairs high-performing clean cities with lower-performing towns to share best practices and strengthen waste management systems.
• Super Swachh League: Recognises cities with consistently strong cleanliness performance and encourages them to sustain high sanitation standards.
• Swachhata Hi Seva (SHS): An annual nationwide Jan Andolan (people’s movement) held around Gandhi Jayanti, encouraging voluntary cleanliness drives, community participation and waste reduction.
• National Urban Sanitation Policy (NUSP), 2008: Provides a framework for achieving total urban sanitation, improving public health and ensuring safe sanitation facilities, particularly for women and economically weaker sections.
• PRAGATI-50 Initiative: Aims to develop 50 Model Clean Cities through modern technology, improved sanitation services and continuous monitoring.