How Navi Mumbai dethroned Indore after 8 years to become India’s cleanest city: Here’s what changed and full rankings

For eight consecutive years, Indore held the distinction of being India's cleanest city. However, the Madhya Pradesh city has now lost its position at the top, with Maharashtra's Navi Mumbai emerging as the country's cleanest urban centre in the latest edition of the Centre's annual cleanliness survey.

Navi Mumbai secured the top position in the Swachh Survekshan Awards 2025-26, followed by Gujarat's Surat and Andhra Pradesh's Vijayawada in second and third place, respectively.

The results were announced at a ceremony in New Delhi on Wednesday, November 11, where President Droupadi Murmu presented the awards to the winning cities.

The 10th edition of the annual survey assessed cleanliness, sanitation and waste management across urban local bodies, with more than 4,700 cities and urban local bodies participating, according to The New Indian Express.

Why did Indore lose its cleanest city tag?

Indore's absence from the overall top rankings does not necessarily indicate a decline in its cleanliness performance.

The city competed in a separate category this year under the newly introduced 'Swachh Shehar Jodi' initiative, which focuses on mentorship between cities.

Indore secured the second position in the Mentor City category alongside its partner town, Depalpur.

Ahmedabad and its partner town Sanand claimed the top position, while Tirupati and Kuppam finished third.

The new category recognises cities that mentor other urban centres in improving sanitation and cleanliness practices.

Which cities emerged as the cleanest in different categories?

Apart from the overall rankings, the Swachh Survekshan 2025-26 recognised cities across population groups and geographical categories.

In the category of cities with populations exceeding 10 lakh, Greater Visakhapatnam emerged as the cleanest, followed by Jabalpur and Lucknow.

Among cities with populations between 3 lakh and 10 lakh, Ujjain secured the first position. Chandigarh and Guntur finished second and third, respectively.

In the 50,000-3 lakh population category, Madhya Pradesh's Dewas was ranked first, followed by the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and Sagar.

For cities with populations between 20,000 and 50,000, Maharashtra's Vita secured the top position, while Aska in Odisha and Panaji in Goa finished second and third, respectively.

Which cities topped the special categories?

The survey also recognised cities based on their geographical characteristics and specific urban sanitation challenges.

Madhya Pradesh's Rewa was declared the cleanest riverfront town, while Uttarakhand's Rudrapur emerged as the cleanest Himalayan city.

In the Swachh Coastal Town category, Odisha's Puri secured the first position, followed by Alappuzha in Kerala and Ratnagiri in Maharashtra.

What changed in the cleanliness performance of cities?

The Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry said cities participating in the mentorship programme recorded significant improvements across several cleanliness indicators between the 2024-25 and 2025-26 surveys.

According to the ministry, visible cleanliness in these cities improved from 48% to 70%, while door-to-door waste collection increased from 52% to 74%.

Source segregation also recorded an improvement, rising from 16% to 30%. Access to sanitation increased from 11% to 38%, while used water management improved from 32% to 53%.

Advocacy and awareness around cleanliness also witnessed an increase, moving from 48% to 66%.

The ministry attributed these gains to the progress made under the city mentorship programme, which aims to help urban local bodies adopt better sanitation and waste management practices.

How was Swachh Survekshan 2025-26 conducted?

This year's Swachh Survekshan was conducted under the theme 'Swachhata Ki Nayi Pehel – Badhayein Haath, Karein Safai Saath'.

The assessment involved more than 3,000 trained assessors who conducted extensive on-ground evaluations across the country. The process was supported by real-time GPS-enabled monitoring.

According to the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry, the assessment was conducted digitally, from evidence submission to verification, with transparency and quality checks incorporated at different stages.

The annual survey evaluates urban local bodies on several parameters, including cleanliness, sanitation, waste collection, source segregation and the management of used water.

With inputs from PTI.

About the Author

Bhanu Pratap is a journalist who reports and writes on foreign affairs, India’s foreign policy, geopolitics and strategic affairs. He closely follows diplomatic developments in New Delhi and has a keen interest in defence and national security.<br> <br> Bhanu also focuses on in-depth, interview-based reports and regularly speaking with experts and policymakers to bring perspectives and context to major developments around the world.<br> <br> He is also interested in stories with strong humanitarian angles.<br><br> One such report examined the cases of Indian nationals who were allegedly recruited and forced into Russia’s war against Ukraine. While reporting the story, Bhanu spoke to the families of those affected and documented their experiences. The report was later taken into account by the United Nations in its findings on human rights violations linked to the war in Ukraine.<br> <br> For Bhanu, the zeal to produce meaningful and impactful journalism remains at the heart of his work.<br> <br>He has previously worked with Firstpost, NDTV, Newslaundry and Republic.<br><br> Bhanu studied at the Delhi School of Journalism, University of Delhi. He initially chose science with plans to pursue engineering, influenced by conventional expectations, but fate had other plans and eventually led him to journalism.<br><br> Beyond the newsroom, Bhanu enjoys exploring culture and history and often spends his days off on heritage walks. He is also passionate about travelling, biking and listening to folk music.<br> <br>For tips, reviews and suggestions, you can reach him at bhanu.pratap@htdigital.in.