‘No major Indian city recorded safe AQI levels at any point from 2015–2025’

No major Indian city recorded safe Air Quality Index (AQI) levels at any point from 2015–2025, according to a new analysis by Climate Trends which assessed air quality data across 11 Indian cities from 2015 to November 2025.

Despite recent policy interventions and technological improvements, top urban centres continue to face serious air-quality challenges, highlighting the need for more aggressive pollution-control strategies, sustained enforcement measures, and long-term urban planning reforms.

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The AQI levels in annual averages in the past decade and meteorology and geography are adding to the persistent winter smog especially across the Indo-Gangetic region, it states.

As expected, Delhi tops the list, but then every major Indian city analysed by Climate Trends “experiences unhealthy air quality for a significant portion of the year and even improving cities remain outside the safe AQI range.”

Bengaluru, with the lowest AQI values among the listed cities, remains largely between 65 and 90, but even these levels exceed what would be considered “good” air quality, showing that no major metro escapes pollution concerns.

The degree of pollution varies from city to city and some improvement is visible in certain locations in recent years but all assessed cities consistently fall within ranges that “indicate moderate to hazardous pollution levels,” with some “routinely breaching recommended safe limits.”

Delhi was the most polluted city throughout the study period, maintaining persistently high AQI values from peaks above 250 (2016) to levels still near 180 in 2025.

“While there is minor year-to-year fluctuation, the city never approaches safe thresholds and continues to experience chronic poor air quality driven by vehicular emissions, industrial activity, seasonal crop burning, and geographic factors”.

Urban centres like Lucknow, Varanasi, Ahmedabad, and Pune also show prolonged periods of elevated AQI. Lucknow and Varanasi started with extremely high levels (often above 200), and although both cities show steady improvement after 2019, their 2025 AQI values remain above healthy limits.

Ahmedabad shows a similar pattern, with AQI reductions after 2017 but still hovering around 100–120 for most years.

Kolkata, Chennai, Chandigarh, Visakhapatnam, and Mumbai present moderate AQI values compared to northern cities but still fail to reach consistently safe levels.

Cities like Chennai and Mumbai show notable improvement after 2020, reflecting the impact of regulatory measures, better fuel standards, and reduced industrial activity during the pandemic years.

However, even they show regular oscillations indicating ongoing pollution pressures, as per the study.