An analysis of the Air Quality Index (AQI) across major Indian cities from 2015 to November 2025 has revealed that Bengaluru has the cleanest air among metros.
However, the findings said that though Bengaluru shows the best air quality, it is still not “safe.” According to Climate Trends AQI data across major Indian cities from 2015 to November 2025, none of the top urban centres in India can be considered “safe” in terms of air quality.
Climate Trends is a research-based consulting and capacity building initiative.
“AQI remains between 65 and 90 most years, although comparatively cleaner, these values still exceed the ‘Good’ category, but rapid urbanisation and vehicle growth prevent the city from falling into safe range,” states the key finding for Bengaluru.
Delhi most polluted
It added that Delhi remains the most polluted city throughout the study period, maintaining persistently high AQI values from peaks above 250 (2016) to levels still near 180 in 2025.
“While there is minor year-to-year fluctuation, the city never approaches safe thresholds and continues to experience chronic poor air quality driven by vehicular emissions, industrial activity, seasonal crop burning, and geographic factors,” it added.
It further said that while a few cities demonstrate gradual improvement over time, the overall pollution load remains high, with northern cities like Delhi, Lucknow, and Varanasi experiencing the most severe and persistent levels.
“Southern and western cities such as Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai, and Pune perform comparatively better but still fail to achieve truly healthy air-quality ranges. These findings highlight the continued impact of traffic emissions, industrial activity, seasonal factors, and rapid urbanisation across the country,” it said.
Palak Balyan, research lead, Climate Trends, said, “Moving to another city for cleaner air isn’t a real solution, and most people can’t afford to do it anyway. What India needs is sustained, long-term, science-based policy reform backed by genuine political will to take tough decisions”.
He added that air pollution affects everyone, but not equally: people who spend more time outdoors, like street vendors, sanitation staff, transport workers, and construction workers, are impacted the most.
Published – November 28, 2025 11:27 pm IST
