The State of India’s Environment 2026: In Figures, an annual nationa-wide analysis of environment and development, was released June 4, 2026.
India’s five most populous states ranked poorly across environment, agriculture, health and human development.
These included Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal.
Goa and several smaller states lead overall, but even top performers struggle with waste management, farmer welfare, environmental risk and weak public infrastructure, slowing SDG progress.
India's five most populous states — Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal — were found to be poor performers on many development indicators, according to the State of India’s Environment 2026: In Figures. The e-book is an annual publication by Down To Earth and Delhi-based think tank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) that presents analysis of nation-wide data on environment and development.
For the assessment, the performance of Indian states was studied under four themes — environment, agriculture and land, public health, and human development and public infrastructure. Looking at all the categories together, Goa, Assam, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Nagaland topped the charts.
In the 'environment' category, Goa, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Tripura and Odisha performed the best, while Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Punjab and West Bengal were at the bottom of the table. Chandigarh was found to be the top-ranked Union territory and Puducherry was the worst.
The indicators measured were forest and biodiversity, climate, waste management and water resources.
As many as 15 states and UTs fell below the halfway-mark in in the analysis. Waste management has emerged as the biggest challenge for most.
“Goa, the top-ranked state, has excelled due to its high share of new renewable sources in power generation,” said Kiran Pandey, programme director, environmental resources, CSE and one of the authors of the report. “However, the state faces challenges like forest cover change, sewage treatment and management of polluted river stretches.”
Richard Mahapatra, managing editor of Down To Earth and report co-author, pointed out that even top-ranked states seem to be struggling. Punjab, which demonstrates a strong agricultural economy, lagged in ‘agriculture inputs’ due to its high dependence on chemical fertilisers and weak show on organic farming, he said.
The e-report was released June 4, 2026 ahead of World Environment Day (June 5) by CSE director-general Sunita Narain in a virtual presentation. “In today’s uncertain world, numbers are the crutch that will help us stay grounded. They will help us understand trends: What is shaping our world and our future; what is changing; what is improving, and what is not,” she said.
“Barring one, all indicators for assessment have used official government data sources,” Mahapatra said, explaining the methodology behind the data selection.
In the 'agriculture and land' theme, Punjab, Haryana, Sikkim, Tripura and Jharkhand were top rankers, while Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Telangana and Goa were the lowest.
Indicators for this assessment included agricultural economy, agriculture input, farmer welfare and sustainable land use.
Twenty-seven states have remained below the halfway mark in this category and “farmer welfare is where most of the states have performed poorly,” said Pandey.
In the 'public health' theme, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Kerala and Sikkim emerged as best performers. Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Chhattisgarh were at the bottom of the rankings.
Among Union territories, Delhi topped the ranking that was done on the basis of four metrics: Cost of health, environmental risk, health outcome and health infrastructure. Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu were the lowest scorers.
Goa is the only state in India where all registered deaths are medically certified with a known cause of death, according to a joint press release by DTE and CSE. However, the state faces a shortfall in government hospital beds per 1,000 population, it noted.
While 16 states and UTs have fallen below the halfway mark in this category, ‘environmental risk’ (disability adjusted life years due to air pollution) has emerged as the key cause for concern in most of them.
On 'public infrastructure and human development, Goa, Nagaland, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu were the top performers, while Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Arunachal Pradesh were the worst.
Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu topped the ranking among UTs and Lakshadweep was at the bottom.
Public infrastructure, gender, education and unemployment, and povery and inequality were the four indicators for this analysis.
Thirty-two of the 36 states and UTs were assessed to be below the halfway mark, with public infrastructure (roadways, power and housing) the common problem area.
The findings indicate that overall national progress toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) is likely to be slower, particularly in critical areas such as health outcomes, infrastructure development, social equity, and environmental sustainability, said Mahapatra.