Navi Mumbai has been named India’s cleanest city in the Swachh Survekshan 2025-26 rankings, ending Indore’s eight-year run at the top. Surat finished second, followed by Vijayawada in third place.
The annual cleanliness survey also recognised Rewa as the cleanest riverfront town and Rudrapur as the cleanest Himalayan city. Among cities with a population of more than 10 lakh, Greater Visakhapatnam secured the top position. Ujjain emerged as the cleanest city in the 3 lakh to 10 lakh population category.
Indore moves to Mentor City category
Indore, which had topped the cleanliness rankings for eight consecutive years, was placed in a separate category this year. It secured the second position in the Mentor City category along with its partner town, Depalpur, under the newly introduced ‘Swachh Shehar Jodi’ initiative.
Ahmedabad and its partner town Sanand topped the category, while Tirupati and its partner town Kuppam finished third.
President Droupadi Murmu presented the awards to the winners at an event held here. More than 4,700 urban local bodies took part in this year’s survey.
Rewa, Puri among top-ranked townsindore
Madhya Pradesh’s Rewa was named the cleanest riverfront town, with Bilaspur and Varanasi taking the second and third positions, respectively.
In the Swachh Coastal Town category, Puri secured the top spot, followed by Alappuzha in Kerala and Ratnagiri in Maharashtra, according to the Union Housing and Urban Affairs (HUA) Ministry.
Rudrapur topped the list of cleanest Himalayan cities. Jammu finished second, while Shopian took the third position.
Rankings across other population categories
In the 50,000 to 3 lakh population category, Madhya Pradesh’s Dewas emerged as the cleanest city, while Sagar finished third. The New Delhi Municipal Council secured the second position.
For cities with populations between 20,000 and 50,000, Maharashtra’s Vita topped the rankings. Aska in Odisha and Panaji in Goa finished as the first and second runners-up, respectively.
Over 3,000 assessors conducted surve
This year’s Swachh Survekshan was held under the theme, ‘Swachhata Ki Nayi Pehel – Badhayein Haath, Karein Safai Saath’.
The ministry said more than 3,000 trained assessors carried out extensive on-ground evaluations across the country. The exercise was supported by real-time GPS-enabled monitoring.
The assessment process, from submission of evidence to verification, was conducted digitally. The ministry said the system remained transparent, with quality checks at every stage.
Mentee cities show improvement
The HUA Ministry also reported an improvement in the performance of mentee cities across several cleanliness indicators between Swachh Survekshan 2024-25 and 2025-26.
Under the ‘Visible Cleanliness’ parameter, the performance of these cities increased from 48 per cent in the previous survey to 70 per cent in the latest edition.
“For ‘Door-to-Door Collection’, mentee cities were at 52 per cent in Swachh Survekshan 2024-25 and have now cumulatively reached 74 per cent. Mentee cities have also achieved notable improvements across key parameters such as: Source Segregation (from 16 to 30 per cent), Access to Sanitation (from 11 to 38 per cent), Used Water Management (from 32 to 53 per cent), and Advocacy for Swachhata (from 48 to 66 per cent), reflecting strengthened sanitation systems and improved service delivery outcomes through dedicated mentorship from high-performing cities,” it stated.
(with agency inputs)
