Tracing the Hazy Air 2025: Progress Report on India National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)

The National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) was launched in 2019 to improve air quality in India by reducing particulate matter (PM) concentrations by 20-30% by 2024. It was later extended to 2026 with a revised target of a 40% reduction in PM10 levels compared to 2017 (NCAP, 2019). The programme has faced challenges and shortcomings, as highlighted in the preceding 'Tracing the Hazy Air 2022, 2023 and 2024' reviews by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA). This latest report assesses the progress made under NCAP and analyses ambient air quality trends for 2024. It is crucial to examine how the current progress aligns with the initial goals, which serve as interim milestones toward
achieving the 40% reduction target by 2026. 

Air quality progress in NCAP cities:

• Out of 130 cities, 28 still do not have continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations (CAAQMS). Among the 102 cities that do have monitoring stations, only 97 cities reported 80% or more PM10 data coverage.
• Of these 97 NCAP cities, 29 recorded an increase in PM10 concentrations. Only 41 cities out of the 97 achieved the initial NCAP target of a 20-30% reduction in PM10 levels.
• Also, 61 of the 68 cities that reported a reduction still had PM10 concentrations exceeding the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).