India’s water story has always felt deeply personal to me. We are a country of 1.4 billion people living with just 4% of the world’s freshwater. Every summer shortage in a city, every farmer waiting for the monsoon, every drying well in Punjab or Rajasthan is not just a statistic — it is a reminder of how closely our daily lives, food security and economic ambitions are tied to water.
As I look at the sector in mid-2026, a few themes stand out strongly to me. These are not abstract policy points; they are the issues that will decide whether India manages its water future with foresight or continues to lurch from crisis to crisis.
The Monsoon Is No Longer Reliable — and That Changes Everything
This year’s weak and uneven monsoon has once again exposed our vulnerability. Forecasts of below-normal rainfall, a particularly dry June, and growing talk of El Niño effects are not surprises anymore. Rain is arriving in intense bursts separated by long dry spells. Reservoirs drop quickly, cities scramble for tankers, and rain-fed farmers suffer.
What concerns me most is that we still plan as if a “normal” monsoon is the default. It no longer is. Climate variability is the new normal. We need water systems that can handle extremes — better storage, smarter groundwater recharge, and urban infrastructure that does not collapse under a few days of heavy rain or prolonged dry weather. Treating every deficient monsoon as an emergency rather than a structural reality is no longer sustainable.
Groundwater: The Crisis We Prefer Not to See
Groundwater is India’s quiet backbone and its biggest hidden risk. National numbers look manageable (extraction around 60–61%), but the regional picture is alarming. Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana continue to extract far more than nature replenishes. Farmers are forced to dig deeper every year. Water-intensive crops in water-scarce regions, powered by cheap or free electricity, have created a slow-motion disaster.
I have long believed that without serious reform in agricultural water use — crop diversification, realistic power pricing, and large-scale micro-irrigation — the rest of our efforts will only buy us time. The fact that agriculture still consumes the overwhelming majority of our freshwater cannot be ignored any longer.
Jal Jeevan Mission: A Genuine Success That Now Needs to Mature
One development that genuinely gives me hope is the progress of the Jal Jeevan Mission. Moving rural tap-water coverage from roughly 17% in 2019 to over 82% today is a remarkable achievement by any global standard. Millions of women and girls have been freed from the daily burden of fetching water. That alone is transformative.
JJM 2.0, now extended to 2028 with a sharper focus on functionality, source sustainability and operations, is the right next step. Connections without reliable supply, quality and maintenance will eventually lose public trust. The shift from “providing taps” to “providing lasting service” is critical, and I hope states treat this phase with the same urgency as the first.
Wastewater Must Stop Being Treated as Waste
India still generates far more sewage than it treats properly. A large portion of untreated or poorly treated water continues to pollute rivers and aquifers. At the same time, we face growing freshwater shortages.
This contradiction frustrates me. Treated wastewater is a resource we are only beginning to use seriously. States that have introduced clear reuse targets and city-level plans are moving in the right direction. Industry, construction, power plants and urban landscaping can absorb significant volumes of recycled water. Making reuse the default rather than the exception should be a national priority.
Namami Gange has shown that sustained effort produces results — improved treatment capacity, reduced industrial pollution load in key stretches, and better water quality indicators. The work is far from finished, but it proves that focused, long-term programmes can turn the tide.
New Pressures and New Opportunities
Urban growth, industrial expansion and the rise of data centres (with their heavy cooling needs) are adding fresh demand. Coastal desalination is gaining attention. Corporate India is beginning to treat water stewardship as a business necessity rather than a CSR checkbox. These are positive shifts.
The scale of required investment — estimated in the range of several lakh crore rupees over the coming years — also creates real opportunity for technology, engineering and service providers. But capital alone will not solve the problem. Fragmented governance across states, heavily subsidised pricing that hides true costs, and slow reallocation of water between sectors remain structural weaknesses. Until these are addressed more honestly, shortages will keep returning.
What I Believe Matters Most Going Forward
In my view, three things will determine success:
- Treat water as one connected system — surface water, groundwater and wastewater must be managed together, not in silos.
- Align incentives with reality — especially in agriculture and urban pricing.
- Build for variability, not averages — climate resilience has to be designed into every project.
India has the technical capacity, the policy instruments and, increasingly, the public awareness. What we need is consistency, political courage on difficult reforms, and a willingness to measure success by reliable service rather than just infrastructure numbers.
Water security is not a side issue. It underpins food production, urban liveability, industrial competitiveness and social equity. Getting it right will be one of the defining tests of India’s development journey in the coming decade.
I remain cautiously optimistic. The progress of the last few years shows what is possible when focus and resources align. The question now is whether we can sustain that momentum and go deeper — from access to reliability, from extraction to stewardship, and from crisis response to long-term resilience.
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