How Navi Mumbai Dethroned Indore to Become India's Cleanest City After 8 Years: Here's What's Changed & Full Rating

For eight consecutive years, Indore has held the distinction of being the cleanest city in India. However, the Madhya Pradesh city has now lost its top spot, with Maharashtra’s Navi Mumbai emerging as the country’s cleanest urban center in the latest edition of the annual Center Cleanliness Survey.

Navi Mumbai has bagged the top spot in the Swachh Survekshan Awards 2025-26, followed by Surat from Gujarat and Vijayawada from Andhra Pradesh at the second and third positions.

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

The tenth 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.

Read also | Delhi is ahead of Bengaluru in Srinagar in clean air survey despite toxic smog

Why did Indore lose the cleanest city tag?

Indore’s absence from the overall top ranking does not necessarily mean a decline in its cleanliness.

The city competed in a separate category this year under the newly launched ‘Swachh Shehar Jodi’ initiative, which focuses on mentoring between cities.

Indore secured the second place in the Mentor City category alongside its sister city Depalpur.

Ahmedabad and its sister city Sanand took the top spot, while Tirupati and Kuppam finished third.

The new category recognizes cities that instruct other urban centers in improving hygiene and cleanliness.

Which cities have emerged as the cleanest in various categories?

Apart from the overall ranking, the Swachh Survekshan 2025-26 has awarded cities across population groups and geographical categories.

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

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

In the 50,000-3 lakh population category, Dewas of Madhya Pradesh topped the list, followed by New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and Sagar.

For cities with a population between 20,000 and 50,000, Vita from Maharashtra secured the top spot, while Aska in Odisha and Panaji in Goa finished second and third.

Which cities took first places in special categories?

The survey also recognized cities based on their geographic characteristics and specific urban sanitation issues.

Madhya Pradesh’s Rewa was declared the cleanest riverside town, while Uttarakhand’s Rudrapur emerged as the cleanest Himalayan town.

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

What has changed in the cleanliness of cities?

The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs said cities participating in the mentoring program have seen significant improvements in several cleanliness indicators between the 2024-25 and 2025-26 surveys.

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

Resource segregation has also improved, rising from 16% to 30%. Access to sanitation increased from 11% to 38%, while water management improved from 32% to 53%.

Promotion and awareness of cleanliness also saw an increase, moving from 48% to 66%.

The ministry attributed the gains to progress made under the city’s mentoring program, which aims to help the city’s local authorities implement better sanitation and waste management practices.

How was Swachh Survekshan 2025-26?

This year’s Swachh survey was conducted on the theme ‘Swachhata Ki Nayi Pehel – Badhayein Haath, Karein Safai Saath’.

The evaluation involved more than 3,000 trained evaluators who conducted extensive field evaluations across the country. The process was supported by real-time GPS-enabled monitoring.

According to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, the assessment was conducted digitally, from submission of evidence to verification, incorporating transparency and quality checks at various stages.

The annual survey assesses urban local authorities on several parameters, including cleanliness, hygiene, waste collection, resource segregation and water management.