Neutral current $\pi^0$ analysis in the NO$\nu$A experiment

The NO$\nu$A experiment is a long-baseline accelerator based neutrino oscillation experiment using an upgraded NuMI neutrino beam from Fermilab. By studying electron neutrino and antineutrino appearance, the experiment aims to determine the neutrino mass hierarchy and will provide constraints on $CP$ violation. NO$\nu$A Detector construction is complete and both detectors have started collecting neutrino data. Interactions in which an energetic $\pi^0$ is produced in the final state are one of the dominant sources of backgrounds to the $\nu_e$ search, but also provide a rich sample of events to characterize the detector. Reconstruction of photon showers from $\pi^0$ decays provide input for calibration over the full energy range of interest for the $\nu_e$ appearance analysis. Large uncertainties in model prediction requires a precise measurement of NC $\pi^0$ production rates and cross-sections using NO$\nu$A data. In this talk, we will present the neutral current $\pi^0$ analysis in NO$\nu$A and the first results using data from Near Detector.