In a developing nation keeping the cities clean is a great challenge. In a country like India which has a humongous population, this challenge becomes much more daunting. Under the Swachh Bharat Mission, Swachh Survekshan is organized every year to assess the cleanliness of Indian cities. The Swachh Survekshan carried out in 2022 was the largest ever and it covered 4,355 cities (Swachh Survekshan 2023 is expected to be even larger). Indore was ranked the cleanest city in India for the sixth straight year. Let’s take a look at the top 25 cleanest cities in India.
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Some of the key points upon which the cities were judged are.
- How well the waste is segregated and maintained till it reaches the processing site?
- How well does the city treat and reuse wastewater?
- Does the city follow the reduce, reuse and recycle principles?
- How well the public areas are cleaned?
- Whether there are technological advancements and new initiatives?
- Certified GFC (Garbage Free City) Star Rating Status and Certified ODF (Open Defecation Free) Status.
The cities were given marks out of a total of 7,500, 2,250 of which were from the citizen’s feedback.
Top 25 cleanest cities in India (cities with more than 1 lakh population)
- Indore, Madhya Pradesh
- Surat, Gujarat
- Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra
- GVMC Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh
- Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh
- Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh
- Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh
- Mysore, Karnataka
- New Delhi (NDMC), National Capital Territory
- Ambikapur, Chhattisgarh
- Noida, Uttar Pradesh
- Chandigarh (UT)
- Mira-Bhayandar, Maharashtra
- Chhindwara, Madhya Pradesh
- Baramati, Maharashtra
- Rajkot, Gujarat
- Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh
- Ahmedabad, Gujarat
- Satara, Maharashtra
- Pune, Maharashtra
- Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh
- Sagar, Madhya Pradesh
- Korba, Chhattisgarh
- Barshi, Maharashtra
- Dewas, Madhya Pradesh
Previous Swachh Survekshan (2021) results (cities with more than 1 lakh population)
- Indore, Madhya Pradesh
- Surat, Gujarat
- Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh
- Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra
- New Delhi (NDMC), National Capital Territory
- Ambikapur, Chhattisgarh
- Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh
- Pune, Maharashtra
- Noida, Uttar Pradesh
- Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh
- Gandhinagar, Gujarat
- Mysore, Karnataka
- Raipur, Chhattisgarh
- Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh
- Burhanpur, Madhya Pradesh
- Vadodara, Gujarat
- Dhule, Maharashtra
- GVMC Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh
- Dewas, Madhya Pradesh
- Chandrapur, Maharashtra
- Ahmedabad, Gujarat
- Jamshedpur, Jharkhand
- Raigarh, Chhattisgarh
- Rajkot, Gujarat
- Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh

Top 10 cleanest cities in India 2022-23
1. Indore
Indore was ranked the cleanest city in India for the sixth straight year in the Swachh Survekshan 2022. The city scored 7,146.41 points out of 7,500. If we do not rank the cities based on population (>1 lakh and <1 lakh) and consider all the cities in India, Indore will still get the top spot. This shows how well Indore is managed. It is even better managed than the “easy to manage” small cities.
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2. Surat
Surat comes second on the list of the top cleanest cities in India. In the 2019 survey, Surat was ranked 14th. Reaching the top 25 rankings is a tough ask and improving the rank is even tougher. This shows the determination of the local authorities in Surat.
3. Navi Mumbai
Navi Mumbai comes in the top 25 list as no surprise. In 2019, the city was ranked number 7. In 2021, the city was ranked 4th, now it is ranked 3rd. Being a planned city, things are a bit easier to manage. Hence, the city makes it to the top 25 list every year.
4. GVMC Visakhapatnam
Vishakhapatnam managed by Greater Vishakhapattanam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) is the number 4th entry on this list. The port city of Vishakhapatnam is the most populous city in Andhra Pradesh.
5. Vijayawada
Located along the banks of the Krishna River, the city of Vijayawada is ranked the fifth cleanest city in India. Being an incredibly densely populated city, making the top 5 on this list is a great feat.
6. Bhopal
Bhopal is the 6th cleanest city in India. The capital of Madhya Pradesh is home to over 18 lakh population. The big cities of Madhya Pradesh are doing great as far as “Swachhta Abhiyan” is concerned.
7. Tirupati
Tirupati, a city in Andhra Pradesh is famous for its Venkateswara Temple. Thousands of pilgrims visit the city every month. Managing a pilgrimage city is always a tough job. The municipal corporation in Tirupati and the temple authorities seem to be good at it.
8. Mysore
The city of Mysore makes this list as no surprise. Several years ago when there was no such official survey, everybody used to rank either Mysore or Chandigarh as the cleanest Indian city.
9. New Delhi (NDMC)
The capital city of India is the fifth cleanest city in India. New Delhi is just a small portion of Delhi. A large part of New Delhi is just government buildings and embassies. The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) gets a huge budget to manage the city.
10. Ambikapur
Ambikapur is the tenth cleanest city in India. The city scored 6,365.01 points out of 7,500 in the survey. Interestingly, the city was ranked fourth on this list in 2020.
Some important points
- Madhya Pradesh is the best-performing state among states with more than 100 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs). It’s good to see a state like MP with a high rural and semi-urban population at the top.
- Among states with less than 100 ULBs, Tripura is the best-performing state.
- Madhya Pradesh has the most number of entries (7 entries) in the top 25 list.
- Maharashtra has 6 entries in the top 25 list.
- Haridwar, Uttarakhand was ranked the cleanest Ganga town with more than 1 lakh population
- Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh was ranked the cleanest Ganga town with less than 1 lakh population.
One of the main purposes of Swachh Survekshan is to create a competitive environment for cleanliness in the country. In some years we hope to see cities fighting for the top spots vigorously. Already some changes are visible. Small municipal corporations which have a scarcity of resources are taking up the challenge. A lot of tier-2 and tier-3 cities are on this list which is a good thing.
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Good job Indore 👍.
Yes
We want the swachh survekshan 2022 result for full list of india
The results will be updated within a few hours after the official announcement.
Thanks to Indore municipal corporation and all Indori’s
Great job indeed.
Hard to beat Indore❣️
It has been for the past 6 years 🙂