Delhi and the National Capital Region (Delhi-NCR) again ranked as the most polluted area in India during November 2025, according to a new assessment by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) released on December 6.
Ghaziabad emerged as the most polluted city in India in November 2025, with a monthly average PM2.5 concentration of 224 µg/m³. This means Ghaziabad violated the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) on every day of the month, as per CREA’s November 2025 Monthly Air Quality Snapshot.
The city experienced 19 ʻVery Poorʼ days, 10 ʻSevereʼ days, and one ʻPoorʼ day. Noida, Bahadurgarh, Delhi, Hapur, Greater Noida, Baghpat, Sonipat, Meerut and Rohtak joined Ghaziabad in the top 10 most polluted cities.
Uttar Pradesh accounted for six of the top 10 cities, followed by Haryana with three, along with Delhi. Except Delhi, all other cities in the top 10 most polluted list recorded higher PM2.5 levels than the previous year.
The national capital ranked as the fourth most polluted city, recording a monthly average PM2.5 concentration of 215 µg/m³ in November, about twice its October level of 107 µg/m³. The city experienced 23 ʻVery Poorʼ days, six ʻSevereʼ days, and one ʻPoorʼ day throughout November.
Despite widespread pollution, the contribution of stubble burning was comparatively lower this year, an average of seven per cent in November, down from 20 per cent last year. Peak contributions of stubble burning reached 22 per cent, significantly lower than 38 per cent recorded in the previous year.
The analysis drew on real-time continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations (CAAQMS) PM2.5 data.
Except for Bahadurgarh, none of the top 10 cities recorded even a single day within the safe daily NAAQS limit. Several other cities, including Charkhi Dadri, Bulandshahr, Jind, Muzaffarnagar, Gurugram, Khurja, Bhiwani, Karnal, Yamunanagar and Faridabad, also recorded PM2.5 levels above NAAQS every day of the month.
“Despite a significant reduction in stubble-burning influence, 20 out of 29 NCR cities recorded higher pollution levels than the previous year, and many still did not register a single day within NAAQS limits. This clearly indicates that the dominant drivers are year-round sources such as transport, industry, power plants, and other combustion sources. Without sector-specific emission cuts, cities will continue to breach standards,” said Manoj Kumar, analyst at CREA.
At the state level, Rajasthan had the largest number of polluted cities, with 23 of 34 exceeding the NAAQS in November. Haryana had 22 of 25 such cities, while Uttar Pradesh had 14 of 20 above the standard.
Pollution levels were also high across other states, with 9 of 12 cities in Madhya Pradesh, 9 of 14 in Odisha, and 7 of 8 in Punjab recording concentrations above NAAQS.
Shillong, Meghalaya was Indiaʼs cleanest city in November, with a monthly average PM2.5 concentration of 7 µg/m³. The top 10 cleanest cities included six from Karnataka and one each from Meghalaya, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala.
In November 2025, only 114 out of 255 cities with sufficient data (more than 80 per cent of days monitored) complied with Indiaʼs NAAQS of 60 µg/m³. Compliance with the World Health Organizationʼs (WHO) daily safe guideline of 15 µg/m³ remained extremely low, with just two cities meeting the benchmark.
Among 99 National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) cities with adequate data, 46 cities exceeded Indiaʼs daily NAAQS, while all 99 cities breached the WHO daily guideline. Similarly, out of 156 non-NCAP cities, 154 recorded monthly average PM2.5 levels above the WHO guideline, and 68 exceeded the daily NAAQS.
Air quality distribution shifted markedly toward more polluted categories between October and November. Cities classified as ʻGoodʼ (0-30 µg/m³ of PM2.5 ) fell from 68 to 26, and those in the ʻSatisfactoryʼ range (31-60 µg/m³) declined from 144 to 115. In contrast, ʻModerateʼ cities (61-90 µg/m³) increased from 27 to 73, ʻPoorʼ cities (91-120 µg/m³) rose from 9 to 19, and the number of cities in the ʻVery Poorʼ (121-250 µg/m³) category surged from one to 22.