Eight years. That’s how long Indore has held the title of India’s cleanest city, under the Swachh Survekshan survey. An achievement no other urban centre in the country can match. The city has turned waste segregation, composting, and citizen engagement into a playbook that others try (and mostly fail) to replicate.
But let’s not confuse clean with sustainable.
Clean streets are just one piece of the puzzle. Real sustainability goes deeper, it’s about water security, air quality, public transport, green energy, resilience to heat and floods, and how a city plans for the future without breaking the planet.
So the question isn’t whether Indore is clean. It is. The question is how sustainable is Indore, really?
This piece digs into that question using international protocols like the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) particularly SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities), SDG 6 (Clean Water), and SDG 13 (Climate Action) along with the International Organization for Standardization’s ISO 37120 framework that tracks urban performance on energy, transport, environment, and governance. We’ll map Indore’s wins, its gaps, and what it needs to work on if it wants to be more than just clean.
1. Waste Management
Urban India generates over 160,000 tonnes of solid waste daily. Most of it ends up in landfills or informal dumps. It clogs drains, pollutes air and groundwater, and during monsoons, turns into a public health hazard.
Indore, by contrast, collects 100% of its municipal solid waste from households door to door, and segregates it at source, a practice still alien to many metros. It processes nearly 1,200 tonnes of waste every day, converting it into compost, bio-CNG, or recyclable materials. What this really means is: hardly any of Indore’s garbage ends up in landfills.
The city recently launched India’s first PPP based green waste processing facility, which turns temple and park waste into renewable energy.
These practices are fully aligned with ISO 37120 indicators on waste diversion and SDG 11’s target of reducing cities environmental impact.
So yes, when it comes to waste, Indore doesn’t just shine, it leads.
2. Water Conservation and Reuse
Indore treats over 400 million litres of wastewater daily, a portion of which is reused for gardening, construction, and industrial cooling. Rainwater harvesting is mandatory in new constructions, and several public buildings and parks have adopted it.
However, the city still relies heavily on the Narmada River, which requires water to be pumped 70 km uphill, an energy intensive and vulnerable setup. Groundwater levels in some areas have also dipped.
This shows partial alignment with SDG 6, which focuses on clean, accessible, and sustainable water use.
3. Green Spaces & Air Quality
Indore has actively increased its urban greenery. The Khan and Saraswati riverfronts are being revived with landscaped public spaces and walking paths. Tree plantation drives are frequent, and vertical gardens dot major flyovers.
But on air quality, the picture is mixed. PM2.5 levels have crossed safe thresholds on several days, especially during winters and festivals. Vehicle emissions, dust from construction, and biomass burning are key contributors.
So while green space development aligns with ISO and SDG 11, air quality remains a challenge under SDG 13 (Climate Action) and SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being).
4. Transport & Clean Energy
Indore does better than most Indian cities when it comes to public transport. The iBus BRTS corridor is operational, functional, and widely used. The city is adding e-rickshaws and bio-CNG buses to reduce emissions. The Indore Metro is under construction and aims to further cut congestion and carbon.
But here’s the catch: private vehicle ownership is climbing. Sidewalks are often missing or obstructed. Cycling infrastructure is there but not enough, and rarely continuous. The city’s growing, but walkability isn’t keeping pace.
Globally, cities are shifting toward multi-modal, low-emission transport networks. The ISO 37120 framework tracks this using indicators like kilometres of public transport per capita, number of low-emission vehicles, and non-motorized transit access.
On energy, Indore is making the right moves. It has installed solar-powered LED streetlights, adopted solar rooftops across municipal buildings, and uses biogas from organic waste to fuel part of its public fleet most notably through the city’s green waste to bio-CNG plant.
These steps signal progress toward SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy) and SDG 11, but much like the city’s footpaths they’re still under construction.
Indore’s heading in the right direction, but slowly.
5. Citizen Engagement & Governance
This is where Indore truly stands out. The city’s success isn’t just built on infrastructure, it’s built on participation. Cleanliness is treated like a civic responsibility, not just a municipal service. From the “Zero Waste Event” policy for weddings to community WhatsApp groups for reporting sanitation issues, citizens are actively involved in keeping the system accountable.
School campaigns, social media nudges, and on-ground volunteers help push behavioural change from “No Spitting” rules to home composting.
This aligns strongly with SDG 16 (Strong Institutions) and SDG 17. It also reflects well on ISO 37120 indicators around governance, citizen feedback, and transparency.
What’s Still Missing
Let’s be honest, Indore’s sustainability wins are real. But the gaps? Also very real. Especially when you hold the city up to international sustainability standards.
1. No Full Picture of Carbon Emissions
Carbon tracking is nearly invisible. Despite progress on waste and transport, the city doesn’t publish comprehensive data on greenhouse gas emissions, carbon intensity, or even sector-wise energy consumption. These are baseline metrics under ISO 37120 and central to SDG 13 (Climate Action). Without them, it’s hard to say how climate-smart the city actually is.
2. Weak Climate Resilience Planning
Climate change isn’t abstract, it’s here. But Indore’s readiness for rising temperatures, intense rain, and flooding remains patchy. Drainage upgrades are overdue in older parts of the city. Tree cover helps with urban heat, but there’s no comprehensive strategy for heatwave mitigation like cool roofs, water stations, or emergency response systems.
Indore’s transformation proves what a motivated local government and active citizens can achieve. It has transformed waste into a resource, civic pride into daily habit, and top down policy into street level change. That’s no small feat.
But true sustainability is more than a clean sweep. It requires data transparency, long term climate planning, and resilient infrastructure that protects people and ecosystems not just today, but in the decades ahead.
If Indore wants to lead the global conversation not just India, it needs to build on its successes and plug the gaps. Because in 2025, a sustainable city isn’t defined just by how clean its streets are, but by how well it prepares for what’s coming.