Gurgaon: Gurgaon ranked as the most polluted city in India in March 2026, recording a monthly average PM2.5 concentration of 116 µg/m³. The level is nearly twice India’s national ambient air quality standard (60 µg/m³) and far above the WHO guideline of 15 µg/m³.Haryana accounted for four of the 10 cities, followed by two each from Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, and one each from Rajasthan and Gujarat. Other places in the top 10 included Bahadurgarh, Faridabad, Singrauli, Mandideep, Ghaziabad, Manesar, Bhiwadi, Noida and Nandesari, according to an analysis by Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) covering 251 cities.The city also showed sustained exposure, appearing 27 times among the top 10 most polluted cities during March, the highest frequency recorded. In Gurgaon, the air quality remained consistently poor through the month. Of 31 monitored days, Gurgaon recorded 13 days in the ‘poor’ category (91–120 µg/m³) and 12 days in the ‘very poor’ category (121–250 µg/m³) when levels of PM 2.5 were taken into consideration. Only one day was ‘satisfactory’, and none met the ‘good’ standard.Haryana also recorded the highest number of cities exceeding National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), with nine out of 24 cities breaching limits, followed by Uttar Pradesh.At the national level, 220 of 251 cities with over 80% data availability from continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations (CAAQMS) reported PM2.5 levels within India’s daily standard. However, only three cities met the stricter WHO guideline, highlighting the gap between national standards and global health benchmarks.Among NCAP cities, seven of 96 cities exceeded India’s daily PM2.5 standard, while 94 breached WHO limits. Among 155 non-NCAP cities, 154 exceeded WHO limits and 25 crossed national standards.The CREA analysis also assessed progress under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) for FY 2025–26, based on PM10 reductions against the 2017–18 baseline using cities with over 80% valid data.It found that 89 of 96 NCAP cities continue to exceed annual NAAQS limits. While 79 cities showed improvement, PM10 levels increased in 14 cities and remained unchanged in three. Notably, 27 cities achieved more than 40% reduction in PM10 levels.Among NCAP cities, Ghaziabad recorded the highest annual PM10 concentration (215 µg/m³), followed by Delhi (201 µg/m³) and Noida (195 µg/m³), all exceeding national standards by more than threefold.State-level trends showed Odisha reporting the highest number of cities with rising PM10 levels (five), followed by Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh (two each). In contrast, Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of cities with over 40% reduction, followed by Maharashtra and Punjab.Dehradun recorded the sharpest improvement with a 75% reduction, while Visakhapatnam saw the highest increase at 73%. Delhi recorded a 17% reduction over the same period.Analyst at CREA Manoj Kumar, said many cities remain far from achieving NCAP targets. “Some have even seen rising pollution levels, which is a serious concern. As the programme moves into its next phase, there is an opportunity to base interventions on robust, science-based solutions, with funding directed towards the major pollution sources identified in each region. In recent years, more cities have slipped into non-attainment status, which means that revising NCAP to include emerging hotspots, adopting a regional approach, and enforcing stricter emission standards will all be essential.”The findings indicate that while some long-term improvements are visible, short-term PM2.5 spikes continue to drive severe pollution episodes, particularly in cities like Gurgaon. The analysis was released by CREA as part of its latest assessment of NCAP progress and monthly air quality trends.
