Navi Mumbai Recognized as India’s Cleanest City in Latest Swachh Survekshan

A local train travels over the Vashi Creek railway bridge in Navi Mumbai on October 18, 2026. | Photo credit: PTI

Navi Mumbai was named the cleanest city in India in the central government’s award programme, while Gujarat’s Surat was second and Andhra Pradesh’s Vijayawada came third.

Among cities with a population between three and 10 million, Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh emerged as the cleanest urban centre, followed by UT in Chandigarh and Guntur in Andhra Pradesh.

Indore, which has been rated as the cleanest city in the country for the last eight years, did not figure among the best this year.

The awards were presented by President Droupadi Murma at a function held here.

Rewa, another city in Madhya Pradesh, emerged as the cleanest riverside city, followed by Bilaspur (Chhattisgarh) and Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) in second and third place.

In the above 10 lakh population category, Greater Visakhapatnam emerged as the cleanest city, followed by Jabalpur and Lucknow.

According to the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Puri in Odisha topped the Swachh Coastal Town category, followed by Alappuzhou in Kerala and Ratnagiri in Maharashtra.

Rudrapur in Uttarakhand emerged as the cleanest Himalayan city, while Jammu secured the second spot.

Last year, Indore topped the league, followed by Surat and Navi Mumbai. Jaipur was recognized as the cleanest city in Rajasthan, while Gwalior won the distinction in Madhya Pradesh.

Swachh Survekshan is the flagship cleanliness assessment of Swacch Bharat Mission-Urban to improve urban sanitation, hygiene and waste management. More than 4,751 cities participated in the latest edition.

Swachh Survekshan has made several key improvements for the 2025-2026 awards, including greater emphasis on citizen feedback, expanded coverage of urban river fronts, coastlines and water bodies, and focused indicators on prevention of open defecation and open urination, cleanliness of tourist and historical hotspots, and behavior change initiatives in schools.

Published – 11 Nov 2026 18:34 IST