The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan has been allocated ₹12,192 crore in the 2025 Budget. While the urban component has received ₹5,000 crores, the rural-centred scheme got ₹7,192 crore in this year’s Budget.In fact, the allocation has remained unchanged after the 2022 Budget, when Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced ₹9,492 crore for the combined flagship scheme.
YEAR
SBM-G (IN INR CR)
SBM-U (IN INR CR)
2019-20
9,994
2,650
2020-21
9,994.10
2,300
2022-23
7,192
2,300
2023-24
7,192
5,000
2024-25
7,192
5,000
Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 2, 2014, the Swachh Bharat Mission aimed to achieve universal sanitation coverage by eliminating open defecation across the country. This goal was achieved by October 2, 2019, the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, who inspired the initiative.
It is divided into two major sub-missions – Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) and Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban). The Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) is implemented by the Jal Shakti department, while the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) is administered by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
Initially, both branches of the Swachh Bharat Mission aimed to make India open-defecation-free by 2019.
Until 2019, approximately 11 crore individual household toilets were constructed in various regions across the country as part of the initiative.However, like many other schemes of the Narendra Modi government, this initiative has undergone several changes over the last decade.
The second phase of SBM-G began in 2019, with aim of managing solid and liquid waste to bring about visual cleanliness by 2024-25 and transforming all the villages from ODF to ODF Plus.
As per a government release in January, over 95% villages In India have become open defecation free (ODF) Plus by December 2024.
The urban version of the scheme got a reboot in October 2021, when the scheme shifted its focus to making all cities in ‘garbage-free’ by 2026.
Notably, under the SBM-U, the Union government has been undertaking the Swachh Survekshan, the world’s largest cleanliness survey, in a bid to foster cleanliness among cities.(Edited by : Sheersh Kapoor)First Published: Feb 1, 2025 2:22 PM IST
