India’s Cleanest City Winners: Lucknow, Bhopal, and Ahmedabad Shine Bright: Swachh

New Delhi, 18 July 2025

Ahmedabad is the cleanest city in India among cities with a population of more than 10 lakh, per the Swachh Survekshan 2024–25 rankings. The award was given out by President Droupadi Murmu during a national celebration in New Delhi. Bhopal and Lucknow placed second and third, respectively, in the same category.

The “Super Swachh League,” a new category added to this year’s study, comprises cities that have routinely placed in the top three during the previous three years. To allow other cities an opportunity to shine, these cities were excluded from the major national rankings. The cities that were part of the Super Swachh League were Noida, Chandigarh, Mysuru, Ujjain, and Gandhinagar (population between 3 and 10 lakh) and Indore, Surat, Navi Mumbai, and Vijayawada (population over 10 lakh).
Particularly, Indore had held the top spot for seven years running until last year, while Surat and Indore were tied for first place last year.

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During his remarks, President Murmu commended India’s long-standing sustainable resource-use and recycling habits, comparing them to the modern circular economy concept of “reduce, reuse, recycle.” She stated that contemporary systems could take a cue from the sustainable lifestyles of tribal societies.
First place went to Mira-Bhayandar in Maharashtra, followed by Bilaspur (Chhattisgarh) and Jamshedpur (Jharkhand) in the category of cities having a population of 3–10 lakh.
For their efficient trash management during the Mahakumbh, the Prayagraj Municipal Corporation and the Uttar Pradesh government were also given a special award.

Run by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs’ Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U), only 73 cities took part in the inaugural Swachh Survekshan awards in 2016. This year’s study included a record number of Indian cities—4,589.

One of the main goals of Swachh Bharat Mission Urban 2.0 is to remediate legacy landfills in order to eliminate all outdated dumpsites by 2026.
Manohar Lal Khattar, the Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, declared that a new campaign would start on August 15. By the SBM-U dashboard, just 58% of legacy garbage has been cleaned up so far.

In order to expedite this endeavor, the ministry would implement a “Accelerated Dumpsite Remediation Programme” and provide assistance to states and localities in surmounting challenges like as funding and project bidding.
India’s goal of cleaner, healthier, and more sustainable urban living is being furthered by the Swachh Survekshan awards, which are encouraging increased participation and innovation in sanitation.

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