Delhi spent just 17 pc of NCAP air pollution funds in 5 years: RTI

Delhi has received far too little funding to tackle its air pollution crisis, and what it does receive is barely spent.

An RTI (Right to Information) reply obtained by environmentalist Vimlendu Jha shows that over the last five years, the national capital was allocated Rs 81.36 crore under the Centre’s National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), yet only Rs 14.1 crore, or roughly 17 per cent, was actually utilised.

In recent years, the pattern has worsened: the last two years saw almost no fresh allocations, and only a fraction of leftover funds was spent, as per the RTI.

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“RTI reply just received - and it exposes the clean-air farce of the government. Under NCAP, meagre ₹81.36 crore was allocated to Delhi over five years and just 17% was spent. In the last two years alone, ₹38 crore was allocated, and just ₹1.35 crore utilised, which is under 3.5%. In FY21–22, ₹11.25 crore was allocated and ₹0 spent. FY25–26 had no fresh allocation, only delayed money repackaged as action, none spent. This is how air pollution is governed: noise every winter, excuses all year, and a conscious refusal to spend while people breathe poison,” Jha said in a post on X on Thursday (January 2).

Performance-linked funding

The NCAP was launched as the Union government’s flagship initiative to tackle air pollution across India in 2019. It sets city-specific targets and action plans for 130 cities, aiming to cut particulate-matter levels. The NCAP funding is performance-linked, with allocations intended to support measures across transport, industry, waste management, and urban development, including road-dust control, vehicle electrification, and industrial emission reduction.

RTI reply just received - and it exposes the clean-air farce of the government. Under NCAP, meagre ₹81.36 crore was allocated to Delhi over five years and just 17% was spent. In the last two years alone, ₹38 crore was allocated, and just ₹1.35 crore utilised, which is under… pic.twitter.com/prEEhjTOZW

— Vimlendu Jha विमलेंदु झा (@vimlendu) January 2, 2026

According to the NCAP national dashboard, Rs 13,415.43 crore had been released as funds for 30 cities.

“There was effectively no fresh allocation at all last year (for Delhi), previous funds were carried forward, and only about Rs 1 crore was spent, and this year there has been no allocation and no expenditure. These figures are not anyone’s creation; they come directly from government data provided by the CPCB (Central Pollution Control Board). There is an inadequate allocation of resources. When you are trying to combat a serious challenge such as air pollution, adequate allocation of resources is extremely important,” Jha told The Federal.

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“Then there is the question of utilisation. Even in Delhi, which gets disproportionate focus, only 17 per cent of the allocated funds were utilised over four to five years. Out of about Rs 85 crore, only around Rs 14 crore was spent. Across political lines, whether it is the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), there has been apathy and dishonesty when it comes to air pollution governance,” he added.

'Not just funding but planning'

Gufran Beig, founder of the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), said the issue was not just funding but planning.

Despite being a city with more than one million, Delhi did not receive air pollution funding under the 15th Finance Commission and got only the nominal amount available under the NCAP programme. We don’t know why.

“There is ample scope for spending funds on air quality and NCAP-related issues, but the problem is that the funds are not being utilised properly. The bodies that receive these funds are the implementers and executives, but there is very little harmonisation with scientific bodies that can guide them on what should actually be prioritised,” he said.

“What is missing is scientific input into planning: what should be implemented, how it should be prioritised, and what will actually make a difference. Action plans are largely focused on implementation strategies, without a scientific backbone to guide them. What ends up happening is that governments go for quick fixes — like converting a small fraction of buses to EVs or sprinkling water — which does not really make any meaningful difference,” he added.

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“These measures become null and void in terms of real air quality improvement. This is why I am not surprised by these numbers. On one hand, governments say there is no money for air pollution, but on the other hand, even the money that has been allocated cannot be spent in the absence of clear, strategic scientific planning,” Beig explained.

According to Anumita Roychowdhury, Executive Director at the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), New Delhi, the problem of funds for Delhi is not just limited to NCAP.

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“Despite being a city with more than one million, Delhi did not receive air pollution funding under the 15th Finance Commission and got only the nominal amount available under the NCAP programme. We don’t know why… Even the limited NCAP funds that Delhi receives have remained hugely underutilised, raising questions about how effectively these resources are being used,” she said.

Roychowdhury added that spending priorities are skewed.

'Most NCAP spending in dust control'

“Across the country, more than 64 per cent of NCAP spending has gone into dust control measures such as road sweeping and water sprinkling, while combustion sources like industry and vehicles have received a much smaller share. To clean up the air, it is essential to align and converge sectoral funding across areas such as waste management, transport electrification and urban development, and to mainstream clean-air indicators into all development spending,” she said.

The Delhi government, however, questioned the RTI figures. Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa told The Federal that, contrary to what the data showed, “There was 100 per cent utilisation of the funds” last year on “roads in Transport Nagar and on MRSMs (mechanical road-sweeping machines).

What is missing is scientific input into planning: what should be implemented, how it should be prioritised, and what will actually make a difference. Action plans are largely focused on implementation strategies, without a scientific backbone to guide them.

“This year too, I have given approximately Rs 80 crore to the MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi) for end-to-end road carpeting and other work.”

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On the low allocation from the Centre, he blamed the state’s previous AAP government, as allocation was performance-linked.

“The previous AAP government did not spend the NCAP funds properly. In fact, they didn’t even spend the nearly Rs 2,000 crore collected through the environmental cess. After coming to power, we have started utilising that money, and we also requested NCAP funds, which we have received and are being spent,” he said.

Delhi’s former environment minister Gopal Rai could not be reached for comment.