President Murmu presents Swachh Survekshan 2025–26 awards in New Delhi
Navi Mumbai was named India's cleanest city as President Droupadi Murmu honoured urban local bodies for sanitation excellence.
President Droupadi Murmu presented the Swachh Survekshan 2025–26 awards at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on November 11, 2026. The ceremony, convened by the Department of Urban Development under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), recognised India's cleanest urban local bodies and municipal corporations.
According to The Indian Express, Navi Mumbai in Maharashtra was named the cleanest city in India. Surat in Gujarat and Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh secured the second and third positions, respectively. In the million-plus population category, Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) was ranked first, followed by Jabalpur and Lucknow.
The awards introduced new categories for riverfront, coastal, and Himalayan urban centres. Rudrapur in Uttarakhand was named the cleanest Himalayan city, while Rewa in Madhya Pradesh topped the riverfront category. For coastal towns, Puri in Odisha ranked first, followed by Alappuzha and Ratnagiri.
President Murmu stated that cleanliness requires the active participation of all stakeholders and cannot be achieved by a single institution alone. She suggested integrating plastic waste management into school curricula and incorporating feedback from citizens and sanitation workers into decision-making.
Union Minister for MoHUA and Power Manohar Lal noted that urban waste processing has risen from 16 per cent to 80 per cent since 2014. He also said that door-to-door waste collection coverage increased from 44 per cent to over 96 per cent during that period.