State-Wise Cracker Ban & Rules Tracker
A living, sourced table of firecracker bans and bursting-hour rules by state for 2026, with links to each state's local details. Last verified regularly.
State Cracker Ban Tracker: Rules, Timings and Bans by State in India
Last verified: 2026
Delhi-NCR got a four-day green-crackers window for Diwali 2025, 6-8 am and 8-10 pm from 18 to 21 October, while the same week four Bihar cities banned every category of firecracker outright, green ones included. Both rules trace back to the same 2018 Supreme Court judgment and the same NGT air-quality order, yet a family in Patna and a family in Gurugram were living under opposite laws. That gap is the whole reason a single national explainer can't tell you what's legal where you live: the floor is national, the actual bursting-hours number and the full-ban list are set state by state, court order by court order, and renotified most years. This tracker holds the state-level answer in one sourced table, with every figure traced to a state pollution control board order, a Supreme Court/High Court ruling, or dated reporting, so you can check your own state before you buy or burst.
The short answer:
- No Indian state currently permits unrestricted bursting of any firecracker; every state's default is certified green crackers only, inside a fixed window.
- Most states run the same two-hour evening slot, commonly 8-10 pm, with a handful (Delhi-NCR, Tamil Nadu) adding a short morning slot too.
- A cluster of India's most polluted cities and districts, four in Bihar, over a dozen in Haryana, two towns in Punjab, sit under a full local ban regardless of the national green-cracker default.
- Delhi-NCR's 2025 window was a narrow, dated Supreme Court exception (18-21 October only) layered on the standing national mandate, not a permanent rule change for future years.
- Bursting windows and full-ban lists get renotified close to Diwali most years; treat every figure below as this tracker's latest verified pass, not a fixed law.
State-by-state table
| State / UT | Status | Bursting window | Full-ban pockets | Source (year verified) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Delhi-NCR](/buy-crackers-online-in-delhi) | Green-only, court-set exception | 6-8 am and 8-10 pm, 18-21 Oct only | None during the window; e-commerce sale stays banned | Supreme Court order, 15 Oct 2025 |
| [Tamil Nadu](/buy-crackers-online-in-tamil-nadu-state) | Green-only, TNPCB order | 6-7 am and 7-8 pm | None statewide | TNPCB, 2025 |
| [Karnataka](/buy-crackers-online-in-karnataka-state) | Green-only, KSPCB order | 8-10 pm, two designated Diwali days | None statewide | KSPCB, 2025 |
| [Telangana](/buy-crackers-online-in-telangana-state) | Green-only, TSPCB order | 8-10 pm on Diwali | None statewide | TSPCB, 2025 |
| [Andhra Pradesh](/buy-crackers-online-in-andhra-pradesh-state) | Green-only, APPCB order | 8-10 pm on Diwali | None statewide | APPCB, 2025 |
| [Maharashtra](/buy-crackers-online-in-maharashtra-state) | Green-only, MPCB/BMC order | 8-10 pm on Diwali | Street/footpath cracker vending banned in Mumbai and Pune; sky lanterns banned 23 Oct-24 Nov | MPCB/BMC, 2025 |
| [West Bengal](/buy-crackers-online-in-west-bengal-state) | Green-only by default, but flips to a full ban some years on High Court orders | 8-10 pm Diwali, 6-8 am Chhath Puja (default years) | Calcutta High Court has repeatedly ordered a total ban including green crackers, later narrowed or set aside by the Supreme Court | WBPCB default order; Supreme Court/Calcutta HC litigation history |
| [Bihar](/buy-crackers-online-in-bihar-state) | Mixed: full ban in 4 non-attainment cities, green-only elsewhere | Green-only window elsewhere in the state | Patna, Gaya, Muzaffarpur, Hajipur: complete ban, green crackers included | Bihar State Pollution Control Board, Oct 2024 |
| [Punjab](/buy-crackers-online-in-punjab-state) | Green-only statewide, with local exceptions | 8-10 pm, Diwali and Gurpurab | Jalandhar and Mandi Gobindgarh: full ban (poor AQI) | Punjab government order, 2025 |
| [Haryana](/buy-crackers-online-in-haryana-state) | Mixed: full ban in NCR-adjacent districts, restricted elsewhere | Restricted hours outside banned districts | 14 districts including Faridabad, Gurugram, Panipat, Rohtak, Sonipat: sale and purchase banned | Supreme Court direction to UP/Haryana on NCR air quality |
| [Uttar Pradesh](/buy-crackers-online-in-uttar-pradesh-state) | Mixed: AQI-triggered ban | Green-only where air quality permits | Any district recording "poor" or worse AQI: use, sale and purchase banned | Supreme Court direction to UP/Haryana on NCR air quality |
This table intentionally does not restate each state's city-level delivery timelines, product mix or local festival detail. Click through to the state page linked in the first column for that.
Why the rule changes at every state border
Three separate legal instruments stack on top of each other, and each state combines them differently. The Supreme Court's 2018 judgment set a national floor: green crackers only, no barium, no joined crackers, a 125 dB(AI) noise ceiling. The NGT's 2020 order added an air-quality trigger on top, cutting bursting to green-only (or zero) wherever recorded AQI is moderate or worse, which is why Uttar Pradesh and parts of Haryana see their bans expand or shrink with the pollution reading rather than the calendar. State pollution control boards then set the actual clock, the exact bursting hours, on their own notification each season, which is why Tamil Nadu's slot looks nothing like Karnataka's even though both are "green-only, two windows a day." The full legal stack, cited to primary sources, lives on firecracker laws in India; this page exists because that national explainer can't responsibly print a state-specific hour without becoming twelve pages long.
Cities and districts under a full ban despite the national green-cracker mandate
Green crackers being nationally legal doesn't guarantee a green-only window locally. Four Bihar cities, Patna, Gaya, Muzaffarpur and Hajipur, are classified as CPCB "non-attainment cities" for air quality, and the Bihar State Pollution Control Board has banned sale and bursting of every firecracker category there under NGT direction, a rule reported again for the 2024 Diwali season. Fourteen Haryana districts bordering the NCR, Faridabad, Gurugram, Panipat, Rohtak and Sonipat among them, sit under a Supreme Court-driven sale-and-purchase ban tied to the same NCR air-quality litigation that governs Delhi. Punjab carves out two towns, Jalandhar and Mandi Gobindgarh, for a full local ban while the rest of the state runs the standard two-hour window. West Bengal's pattern is the most volatile of all: the Calcutta High Court has more than once ordered a total ban covering even green crackers across Kali Puja, Diwali, Chhath Puja and Christmas, and the Supreme Court has stepped in on at least one of those occasions to set the total ban aside, so the state's actual rule for any given year depends on which court order was standing that season.
What never changes, no matter the state
Three facts hold in every state on this table and every one left off it. Barium-salt formulations and joined or series crackers stay illegal to manufacture or sell everywhere, a national floor the 2018 judgment set and no state notification can loosen. The 125 dB(AI)/145 dB(C) noise ceiling, measured 4 metres from the bursting point, applies regardless of local bursting hours. And nowhere in India can you complete a firecracker purchase through an online payment checkout; the 2018 e-commerce ban covers every state on this page, which is why every route on this site ends at an enquiry or how-to-order flow rather than a cart. See the ruling-by-ruling history behind all three in Supreme Court firecracker rulings: a complete timeline.
How to check before you order or burst
Confirm three things every season, not just once: your state's current bursting window from its pollution control board notification, whether your specific city or district has been added to a full-ban list this year, and whether an AQI-triggered restriction has tightened the rule in the days before Diwali. Your state's linked page in the table above carries city-level delivery timelines and locally-relevant product picks; for the full national legal picture behind every row in this table, read firecracker laws in India.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does any Indian state currently allow unrestricted firecracker bursting?
No. Every state and Union Territory in this tracker defaults to certified green crackers only, inside a fixed window, usually two hours in the evening. The variation is in the exact hours, whether a morning slot is added, and which cities or districts go further to a full local ban.
Why is Delhi-NCR's rule described as an "exception" rather than a standing law?
The Supreme Court's 15 October 2025 order permitting green crackers in Delhi-NCR was dated and time-boxed to 18-21 October 2025 only, issued after the region had been under a complete firecracker ban. It doesn't establish a permanent window for future years; each Diwali season needs its own check against that year's order.
Which places have a total ban even though green crackers are legal nationally?
Four Bihar cities (Patna, Gaya, Muzaffarpur, Hajipur), fourteen NCR-adjacent Haryana districts, and two Punjab towns (Jalandhar, Mandi Gobindgarh) currently sit under a full local ban on every firecracker category, green included, layered on top of the national green-cracker mandate because of local air-quality classification.
Why does West Bengal's row look less certain than the others?
West Bengal's rule has genuinely flip-flopped across years: the Calcutta High Court has repeatedly ordered a total ban covering even green crackers, and the Supreme Court has intervened to narrow or set aside that order in past seasons. Which ruling is currently in force depends on the season's litigation, so this tracker states both the default WBPCB window and the full-ban pattern rather than picking one as fixed.
How often does this tracker get updated?
Bursting-hour notifications and full-ban lists are typically reissued by each state close to its main cracker-bursting festival. This page is re-verified against fresh state PCB orders and reputable reporting each pass; the "Last verified" date at the top marks the most recent check.
Written by the buyonlinecrackers.com editorial team. Reviewed for accuracy against state pollution control board orders, Supreme Court and High Court rulings, and dated news reporting cited above. This is informational, not legal advice; confirm your state or city's exact current-year notification with the state PCB before you burst or buy.
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