Delhi recorded its best air quality in eight years in 2025, environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said on Thursday.
The PM2.5 levels dropped from 104 micrograms per cubic metre in 2024 to 96 in 2025, while PM10 levels fell from 212 to 197 during the same period, he added.
“Delhiites gave us the mandate to serve, and we made clean air our foremost pledge. The record good AQI days in 2025 prove that science-led action works wonders,” Sirsa said.
According to a government statement, Delhi had around 200 days in 2025 when the air quality index (AQI) stayed below 200, an improvement of about 15 per cent compared to the previous four years.
Of these, 79 days fell in the 'good' and 'satisfactory' zones. The January-to-November average AQI was 187, the best in eight years, excluding the Covid-impacted year of 2020.
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) classifies an AQI between 0 and 50 as 'good', 51 to 100 as 'satisfactory', 101 to 200 as 'moderate', 201 to 300 as 'poor', 301 to 400 as 'very poor', and 401 to 500 as 'severe'.
The number of ‘severe’ air pollution days dropped to eight in 2025, the lowest in recent years. The Delhi government focused on air pollution control after assuming office in February 2025.
It adopted a science-led approach addressing vehicular emissions, dust pollution, industrial emissions, and waste management simultaneously.
Dust mitigation included mechanised road sweeping, deployment of anti-smog guns and mist sprayers, and stricter monitoring of construction sites, supported by compliance surveys and penalties for violations.
Action against vehicular pollution was stepped up, with over 12,000 challans issued in the last 24 hours alone, taking the total since October 1 to more than 12 lakh.
Industrial pollution was addressed through ward-level surveys in industrial and non-conforming areas. Waste management efforts included doubling the garbage lifting frequency and accelerating bio-mining of legacy waste at landfill sites.
The statement also said innovation-driven measures, including cloud seeding trials and open challenges for pollution-mitigating technologies, were explored to supplement enforcement.
