Major National Water Policies, Missions and Schemes

India’s water governance combines constitutional provisions, national policies and centrally sponsored missions to address rural drinking water, urban supply, groundwater depletion and river-water disputes. For Prelims, the focus is on institutional roles, policy shifts and the main targets of flagship schemes.

Constitutional and Institutional Architecture

• State List primacy: Water is primarily a State subject under Entry 17 of the State List (List II).
• Union role: Entry 56 of the Union List (List I) empowers the Centre to regulate and develop interstate rivers and river valleys.
• Dispute resolution: Article 262 provides the constitutional basis for adjudicating disputes relating to interstate river waters.
• Interstate River Water Disputes Act, 1956: Enacted by Parliament under Article 262 for water-dispute adjudication.
• National Water Policy: Formulated in 1987, 2002 and 2012.
• NWP 2012: Treats water as an economic good after meeting basic human needs and recommends an independent statutory water regulatory authority.

Jal Jeevan Mission 2.0

• Restructuring: The Union Cabinet restructured the rural drinking water programme as Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) 2.0 on March 10, 2026.
• Timeline: The mission has been extended to December 2028.
• Financial outlay: Total outlay is ₹8.69 lakh crore, including a Central share of ₹3.59 lakh crore.
• Core objective: To provide functional household tap connections in rural areas.
• Sujalam Bharat: A national digital framework that assigns unique Sujal Gaon/Service Area IDs to map rural water supply lines.
• Digital coverage: By August 2026, these IDs covered 75% of rural habitations, or 12,67,808 habitations.
• Tap connections: As of early September 2026, 15.93 crore rural households had functional tap connections, covering 82.33% of the 19.36 crore identified rural households.

Atal Bhujal Yojana and Groundwater Mapping

• Atal Bhujal Yojana (ABY): A ₹6,000 crore Central Sector scheme for community-led groundwater management.
• Funding pattern: Implemented on a 50:50 sharing basis between the Government of India and the World Bank.
• Coverage: The pilot phase covered 8,203 water-stressed Gram Panchayats across 229 blocks in 80 districts of Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
• Period: The pilot ran from April 1, 2020, to October 15, 2025.
• Extension: The National Level Steering Committee extended the implementation timeline by two years up to 2027.
• NAQUIM 2.0: The National Aquifer Mapping and Management Programme of the Central Ground Water Board uses 3D GIS modelling to map 25 lakh sq km and identify groundwater recharge zones.

AMRUT 2.0 and Urban Water Management

• Launch: AMRUT 2.0 was launched on October 1, 2021.
• Duration: The mission runs through the end of FY 2025-26.
• Objective: To ensure urban water security through universal water supply and improved sewerage management.
• Coverage: Targets 4,800 statutory towns for water supply and 500 cities for sewerage management.
• Outlay: ₹2.99 lakh crore, including a Central share of ₹76,760 crore.
• Physical targets: 2.68 crore new tap connections and 2.64 crore new sewer or septage connections.
• Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari: The initiative launched in September 2024 was merged with Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain in June 2026 to form JSJB: CTR.

Key Prelims Takeaways

• Har Ghar Jal: Eleven states and Union Territories have achieved 100% coverage, including Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Punjab, Telangana, Arunachal Pradesh, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Dadra Nagar Haveli & Daman Diu, and Puducherry.
• ABY impact: The QCI’s July 2026 assessment found improved water levels in 180 of the 229 targeted blocks.
• Recharge structures: Under JSJB: CTR, over 1.58 crore artificial groundwater recharge and storage structures had been constructed by September 3, 2026.
• Groundwater regulator: The Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) was constituted under Section 3(3) of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
• Digital water governance: Sujalam Bharat integrates geospatial mapping with national digital public infrastructure to track water resources.
• Policy focus: Water management in India spans drinking water supply, groundwater recharge, urban sanitation and interstate river regulation.