Air quality in Indian cities
Delhi had the worst air of the 62 cities mapped here in 2025, averaging AQI 200 with 164 days rated Poor or worse. Hubli was the cleanest at AQI 47. 18 of the 62 cities posted their worst month in November. Figures are CPCB daily bulletin averages for the city, not a measurement at your address.
Most-checked cities
India Air Quality Index by city
Annual average National AQI across the cities we map, from the CPCB daily bulletin (2025), with the number of days rated Poor, Very Poor or Severe and each city’s worst month. Tap a column header to sort.
| Rating | ||
|---|---|---|
| Delhi | 200 | Moderate |
| Ghaziabad | 186 | Moderate |
| Gurgaon | 184 | Moderate |
| Noida | 177 | Moderate |
| Faridabad | 167 | Moderate |
| Meerut | 148 | Moderate |
| Dhanbad | 131 | Moderate |
| Patna | 131 | Moderate |
| Jaipur | 127 | Moderate |
| Vizag | 126 | Moderate |
| Lucknow | 125 | Moderate |
| Kota | 124 | Moderate |
| Gwalior | 123 | Moderate |
| Cuttack | 120 | Moderate |
| Chandigarh | 118 | Moderate |
| Bhopal | 112 | Moderate |
| Bhubaneswar | 109 | Moderate |
| Jodhpur | 107 | Moderate |
| Ahmedabad | 106 | Moderate |
| Pune | 105 | Moderate |
| Guwahati | 104 | Moderate |
| Ludhiana | 103 | Moderate |
| Udaipur | 100 | Satisfactory |
| Kolkata | 99 | Satisfactory |
| Bhagalpur | 98 | Satisfactory |
| Jalandhar | 98 | Satisfactory |
| Kanpur | 97 | Satisfactory |
| Agra | 96 | Satisfactory |
| Nagpur | 96 | Satisfactory |
| Amritsar | 95 | Satisfactory |
| Ajmer | 94 | Satisfactory |
| Gorakhpur | 93 | Satisfactory |
| Mumbai | 88 | Satisfactory |
| Prayagraj | 85 | Satisfactory |
| Nashik | 85 | Satisfactory |
| Siliguri | 84 | Satisfactory |
| Jabalpur | 84 | Satisfactory |
| Aurangabad | 84 | Satisfactory |
| Tirupati | 83 | Satisfactory |
| Hyderabad | 82 | Satisfactory |
| Solapur | 81 | Satisfactory |
| Dehradun | 81 | Satisfactory |
| Thane | 80 | Satisfactory |
| Chennai | 80 | Satisfactory |
| Surat | 78 | Satisfactory |
| Indore | 77 | Satisfactory |
| Bareilly | 76 | Satisfactory |
| Bangalore | 75 | Satisfactory |
| Kolhapur | 71 | Satisfactory |
| Raipur | 70 | Satisfactory |
| Coimbatore | 70 | Satisfactory |
| Thiruvananthapuram | 69 | Satisfactory |
| Vijayawada | 69 | Satisfactory |
| Varanasi | 68 | Satisfactory |
| Salem | 65 | Satisfactory |
| Mangalore | 65 | Satisfactory |
| Trichy | 62 | Satisfactory |
| Belgaum | 56 | Satisfactory |
| Thrissur | 54 | Satisfactory |
| Mysore | 50 | Good |
| Madurai | 50 | Good |
| Hubli | 47 | Good |
How to read the AQI scale
CPCB’s National Air Quality Index runs 0–500 in six bands. The 100 mark is roughly where 24-hour PM2.5 crosses India’s 60 µg/m³ standard; everything above 200 is where CPCB expects breathing discomfort for most people.
| AQI | Band | Health impact (CPCB) |
|---|---|---|
| 0–50 | Good | Minimal impact. |
| 51–100 | Satisfactory | Minor breathing discomfort to sensitive people. |
| 101–200 | Moderate | Breathing discomfort to people with lung or heart disease, children and older adults. |
| 201–300 | Poor | Breathing discomfort to most people on prolonged exposure. |
| 301–400 | Very Poor | Respiratory illness on prolonged exposure. |
| 401–500 | Severe | Affects healthy people; serious impact on those with existing disease. |
How this works
Every day at 4 PM the Central Pollution Control Board publishes a bulletin with one 24-hour AQI, the prominent pollutant and the station count for each city on its continuous monitoring network. We aggregate a full calendar year of those bulletins per city: the annual mean, a monthly profile, the peak day, and how many days fell in each band. The live figure at the top of each city page comes from the same CPCB stations through the Government of India’s open-data feed, refreshed hourly.
Data sources
- CPCB Daily AQI Bulletin (4 PM, 24-hour average), 2025 — city-level National AQI, prominent pollutant and station counts
- CPCB National Air Quality Index (2014) — six-band scale used for all categories
- NAAQS 2009 (24-hour PM2.5 60 µg/m³, PM10 100 µg/m³) — the concentrations that mark the Satisfactory/Moderate boundary
- Live readings: CPCB real-time station feed via data.gov.in (Open Government Data platform).
Common questions
What is a safe AQI level in India?
CPCB's National Air Quality Index treats 0–50 as Good and 51–100 as Satisfactory; above 100 the air is Moderate and starts to affect people with lung or heart disease, children and older adults. The 101 mark corresponds roughly to the 24-hour PM2.5 standard of 60 µg/m³. Anything above 200 (Poor) causes breathing discomfort to most people on prolonged exposure.
Which Indian city has the worst air quality?
Among the cities mapped here, the ranking at the top of the table is by annual average AQI from CPCB's daily bulletins — the Indo-Gangetic plain (Delhi and its neighbours, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar) fills the top of the list, and coastal and southern cities the bottom. Averages hide season: a mid-table city can be worse than Delhi in a single month.
How is AQI calculated in India?
CPCB computes a sub-index for each of eight pollutants (PM2.5, PM10, NO₂, SO₂, CO, O₃, NH₃ and lead) from its 24-hour or 8-hour average concentration, and the city's AQI is the highest of those sub-indices — the 'prominent pollutant'. The daily bulletin averages the stations in each city. This page uses those bulletin values, not a private formula.
When is air pollution worst in India?
October to January in the north, when crop-residue burning, festival fireworks, falling temperatures and a low mixing height combine; most northern cities post their worst month in November. Coastal and southern cities peak more mildly in the same window and are cleanest during the monsoon, June to September.
Do I need an air purifier in India?
It depends on the city and the month, which is what each city page answers. As a rule of thumb: an annual AQI above 200, or more than two months a year at Poor, makes a bedroom purifier a clear yes; 100–200 is a seasonal case; below 100 it is optional unless someone at home has asthma or allergies. Size it from room volume and a 5 air-changes-per-hour target, not the coverage figure on the box.
Where does this air quality data come from?
From the Central Pollution Control Board's daily AQI bulletin, a Government of India publication issued at 4 PM every day with a 24-hour average AQI, the prominent pollutant and the station count for each city with continuous monitoring. The live readings use the same CPCB network through data.gov.in.
Go deeper
How to check air quality at home
Outdoor AQI is only half the story — how to measure what you actually breathe indoors.
GRAP stages explained
What each stage of Delhi-NCR's Graded Response Action Plan restricts, and when it kicks in.
Do air purifiers actually work?
What a HEPA unit can and cannot do against Indian outdoor pollution, with the sizing caveat.
Air purifier size calculator
Work out the CADR your room needs from its volume and a 5 air-changes-per-hour target.
Same discipline for what you drink: check your area’s water quality by pincode.
Disclaimer: Figures are city-level averages of the CPCB daily AQI bulletin for the year shown and may differ from the air at your address, which depends on traffic, construction and the nearest station. This page is general information, not medical advice; for respiratory or cardiac conditions consult a qualified professional. Any purifier guidance is general sizing advice, not a product recommendation. Worst-month figures are monthly means; November dominates because of the post-monsoon build-up across the Indo-Gangetic plain.