Three major Gujarat cities — Ahmedabad-Sanand, Surat, and Vadodara — earned national recognition at the Swachh Survekshan 2025-26 awards, presented by President Droupadi Murmu at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, on 12 November 2025. Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel credited the wins to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cleanliness movement, saying the state had turned vision into action.

Key Wins for Gujarat

The Ahmedabad-Sanand pair claimed the first position nationally in the 'Swachh Shehar Jodi' category, which recognises collaboration between mentor and mentee cities to improve urban waste management. Under this initiative, better-performing cities share best practices with peer cities to strengthen sanitation systems.

Surat secured second place in the 'Super Swachh League' category for cities with a population of over 10 lakh, retaining its standing among India's leading clean cities for the second consecutive year. Maharashtra's Navi Mumbai topped that category, while Andhra Pradesh's Vijayawada finished third. Vadodara, meanwhile, was recognised as the state's cleanest city.

What CM Patel Said

Congratulating the cities and their residents, Chief Minister Patel described the results as a reflection of a collective commitment. 'Cleanliness had become a way of life for people across the state under his (PM Modi's) guidance,' he said. He called for renewed efforts to build a 'clean and developed Gujarat', adding that the state had 'embraced the Prime Minister's vision of making cleanliness a mass movement.'

About the Survey and the Ceremony

The 2025-26 edition marks the 10th anniversary of the annual cleanliness survey, conducted under the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs as part of the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban. The assessment covers waste segregation, collection and transportation, solid waste management, visible cleanliness, sanitation facilities, and citizen feedback.

Receiving the awards on behalf of Gujarat were Urban Development Minister Kanu Desai, Minister of State Darshana Vaghela, and officials from the respective municipal corporations.

Broader Context

Gujarat has been a consistent performer in Swachh Survekshan rankings over successive editions. Surat, in particular, has long held a reputation as one of India's cleaner large cities — a standing reinforced by its back-to-back top-tier finishes in the Super Swachh League. The Ahmedabad-Sanand collaboration model, now a national category winner, reflects a growing trend in urban governance of pairing high-performing cities with developing ones to accelerate sanitation outcomes. With the survey now in its tenth year, it has evolved from a basic cleanliness audit into a comprehensive urban health metric watched closely by municipal bodies nationwide.

All eyes will now turn to whether these cities can sustain or improve upon their rankings in next year's edition, as competition among major urban centres continues to intensify.