The Swachh Survekshan Awards 2025-26 were presented by the President of India, Droupadi Murmu on 11 November 2026 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. Organised by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), the 10th edition of Swachh Survekshan recognised cities and urban local bodies (ULBs) for their performance in cleanliness, waste management, sanitation and citizen participation. This year, 60 national awards were announced across different categories. Navi Mumbai, Surat and Vijayawada emerged as the top three cities in the Super Swachh League, while Visakhapatnam, Jabalpur and Lucknow secured recognition in the million-plus population category.
Swachh Survekshan Awards 2025-26: Key Highlights
The awards recognise the efforts of cities, municipal bodies and citizens in improving urban cleanliness and sanitation services across India.
| Particulars | Details |
| Awards | Swachh Survekshan Awards 2025-26 |
| Edition | 10th |
| Award Date | 11 November 2026 |
| Presented By | Droupadi Murmu |
| Ministry | Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs |
| Venue | Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi |
| National Awards | 60 |
| Cities Covered | 4,751 |
| Assessment Indicators | 43 |
Swachh Survekshan Awards 2025-26 Winners List
The 2025-26 awards recognised cities under several categories, including the Super Swachh League, million-plus population, riverfront towns, coastal towns and Himalayan cities.
1. Super Swachh League Winners
The following cities emerged as the top three performers in the Super Swachh League:
| Rank | City | State |
| 1 | Navi Mumbai | Maharashtra |
| 2 | Surat | Gujarat |
| 3 | Vijayawada | Andhra Pradesh |
2. Million-Plus Population Category
The top three cities in the million-plus population category were:
- GVMC Visakhapatnam – Andhra Pradesh
- Jabalpur – Madhya Pradesh
- Lucknow – Uttar Pradesh
3. Swachh Shehar Jodi Awards
The Swachh Shehar Jodi initiative promotes knowledge-sharing between better-performing cities (Mentors) and cities seeking improvements (Mentees).
| Rank | Mentor City | Mentee City |
| 1 | Ahmedabad | Sanand |
| 2 | Indore | Depalpur |
| 3 | Tirupati | Kuppam |
The initiative follows the principle of Each One – Teach One to improve urban waste management through cooperation.
4. Swachh River Front Town Awards
The top three riverfront towns were:
- Rewa – Madhya Pradesh
- Bilaspur – Chhattisgarh
- Varanasi – Uttar Pradesh
5. Swachh Coastal Town Awards
The top three coastal towns were:
- Puri – Odisha
- Alappuzha – Kerala
- Ratnagiri – Maharashtra
6. Clean Himalayan City Awards
The recognised cities in the Clean Himalayan City category were:
- Rudrapur – Uttarakhand
- Jammu – Jammu and Kashmir
- Shopian – Jammu and Kashmir
These special categories were introduced to give greater attention to cleanliness in ecologically sensitive regions.
What Is Swachh Survekshan?
Swachh Survekshan is India’s annual urban cleanliness assessment conducted under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
It was launched in 2016 with an initial assessment of 73 cities. In the 2025-26 edition, its coverage expanded to 4,751 cities.
Assessment Parameters of Swachh Survekshan 2025-26
Urban Local Bodies were evaluated using 43 indicators covering 10 critical assessment areas, including:
- Waste segregation at source.
- Waste collection and transportation.
- Solid waste management.
- Visible cleanliness.
- Access to sanitation.
- Mechanisation of desludging services.
- Institutional strengthening.
- Used water management.
- Swachhata awareness and advocacy.
- Sanitation worker welfare, citizen feedback and grievance redressal.
More than 3,000 trained assessors conducted ground-level evaluations using GPS-enabled monitoring and digital verification systems.
Major Achievements of Swachh Survekshan 2025-26
- More than 350 Urban Local Bodies improved their rankings by over 500 positions.
- Over 1,700 smaller cities with populations below 50,000 improved their rankings.
- Around 2.70 crore citizens provided feedback during the survey.
- Around 80% of urban waste is now being processed, compared with 16% in 2014.
- Door-to-door waste collection coverage increased from 44% in 2014 to over 96%.
- Nearly 11,000 acres of urban land were freed through legacy dumpsite remediation.
Significance of Swachh Survekshan Awards
Swachh Survekshan encourages healthy competition among cities and promotes better sanitation practices. The assessment also strengthens citizen participation, waste segregation, scientific waste processing and the welfare of sanitation workers.
The introduction of special categories for riverfront, coastal and Himalayan towns expands the focus beyond conventional urban cleanliness. It also highlights the importance of protecting environmentally sensitive areas.
