Lok Sabha Question No. 4 (STARRED), answered on 2026-01-29
Subject: Dynamic Groundwater Resources Assessment, 2025
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Dr. Shrikant Eknath Shinde, Shri Naresh Ganpat Mhaske

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI

## DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT & GANGA REJUVENATION

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *4

ANSWERED ON 29.01.2026

## DYNAMIC GROUNDWATER RESOURCES ASSESSMENT, 2025

## *4. Dr. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE:

## SHRI NARESH GANPAT MHASKE:

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

(a)  whether  the  Government  has  completed  the  Dynamic  Groundwater  Resources  Assessment,  2025  to evaluate annual groundwater recharge, extractable resources and levels of extraction across the country, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;

(b) the steps taken to categorise assessment units into safe, semi-critical, critical and overexploited categories and the manner in which this informs targeted conservation actions, particularly in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh;

(c) whether ongoing water conservation programmes such as Jal Shakti Abhiyan, Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari and Atal Bhujal Yojana have been aligned with the assessment findings to strengthen groundwater recharge and reduce over-extraction, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;

(d)  the  measures  adopted  to  enhance  aquifer  mapping,  creation  of  artificial  recharge  structures  and community engagement for sustainable groundwater management; and

(e)  the  manner  in  which  these  combined  measures  are  expected  to  improve  water  security,  support agricultural and domestic requirements and ensure long-term sustainability of groundwater resources?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF JAL SHAKTI

## (SHRI C R PAATIL)

(a) to (e) : A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (e) OF STARRED QUESTION NO. *4 TO BE ANSWERED ON 29.01.2026 IN LOK SABHA REGARDING 'DYNAMIC GROUNDWATER RESOURCES ASSESSMENT, 2025'

(a) The annual exercise of Dynamic Ground Water Resource assessment of the country has been completed for the year 2025 by Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) in coordination with State Governments. As per the Report, the total Annual Ground Water Recharge in the country is 448.52 Billion Cubic Meter (BCM) and the Annual Extractable Ground Water Resources is estimated as 407.75 BCM. Further, the total Annual Ground Water Extraction of the entire country for the year 2025 has been assessed as 247.22 BCM. Based on this, the Stage of Ground Water Extraction (SoE), which is a measure of Annual Ground Water Extraction for  all  uses  (irrigation,  industrial  and  domestic  uses)  over  Annual  Extractable  Ground  Water  Resource  is worked out to be 60.63% for the country as a whole .

(b) Categorization of Assessment Units (AUs), which are generally Blocks/Tehsils/Talukas/Mandals etc, is done on the basis of the Stage of Ground Water Extraction (SoE) of the given AU for the assessment year. Assessment Units with SoE less than 70% are categorized as 'Safe', with SoE between 70% to 90% as 'Semi critical',  with  SoE  between  90%  to  100%  as  'Critical'  and  those  with  SoE  above  100%  fall  under  'Over Exploited' category. Summary of categorization of assessment units for the country as a whole as well as for the States of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, as per the 2025 Report, is presented in Annexure.

This categorization enables targeted actions, prioritizing intensive supply and demand measures like recharge, rain water harvesting and micro-irrigation in Over-exploited, Critical and Semi-critical (OCS) areas including  those  in  Maharashtra  and  Madhya  Pradesh.  In  contrast,  Safe-category  areas  are  marked  for sustainable development and judicious regulation of groundwater use.

(c) The  dynamic  ground  water  resource  assessment  forms  the  cornerstone  of  the  Government's  sciencebased, methodical approach to groundwater management and provides a sound basis for selection of priority areas for various ground water conservation and management schemes/programmes like Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA), Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari (JSJB), Atal Bhujal Yojana, MGNREGS etc. Since its inception in 2019, every edition of JSA has focused on prioritizing water stressed areas for intensive water conservation efforts. Similarly,  for  JSJB,  which  seeks  to  develop  cost-effective,  local  solutions  tailored  to  specific  water challenges  through  community  ownership,  the  ground  water  resource  assessment  serves  as  an  important compass for taking up intensive recharge efforts. Importantly, during September, 2025, under the 'National Initiative on Water Security', launched jointly by M/o Rural Development and M/o Jal Shakti, it has been decided to spend at least 65% of MGNREGS funds on water conservation works in Over-Exploited (OE) and Critical Blocks of the country and 40% in Semi-critical Blocks.

On the regulation side, the Ground water extraction Guidelines dated 24.09.2020 issued by the Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) prescribe more stringent measures with respect to ground water extraction from  OCS  Blocks  like  higher  extraction  charges,  heavier  Environmental  Compensation  (EC)  charges  and penalties and prohibition of new large-scale industries (only in OE Blocks) etc.

(d) Although 'Water' is a State subject, the Central Government on its part, facilitates the water conservation and  sustainable  ground  water  management  efforts  of  the  State  Governments  by  way  of  technical  and

financial assistance through its various schemes and projects. The major steps taken by the government in this  direction  for  scaling  up  aquifer  mapping,  enhancing  ground  water  conservation  and  recharge  and ensuring long term sustainability of the resource in the country through community involvement are provided below:

- i. NAQUIM studies  have  been  taken  up  across  the  country  by  the  Central  Ground  Water  Board (CGWB) for delineation and characterization of aquifers and preparation of plans for ground water management and during its Phase 1.0, the entire mappable area of the country of about 25 lakh sq. kms has been mapped and District-wise aquifer maps and ground water management plans have been shared with local administrations. Subsequent to this, NAQUIM 2.0 has also been taken up in the country, which harnesses state-of-the-art technologies for generating highly detailed, scientific aquifer data for identified priority areas.
- ii. Taking  up  the  construction  of  artificial  recharge  and  rain  water  harvesting  activities  through convergence and by promoting community involvement is the core concern of Jal Shakti Abhiyan and  Jal  Sanchay  Jan  Bhagidari  initiatives  as  mentioned  above.  By  deeply  integrating  public participation  and  converging  resources,  these  programmes  channel  collective  effort  and  funding towards  artificial  recharge  and  rainwater  harvesting.  Such  community-driven  mobilization  and convergence  of  efforts  and  resources  have  played  a  key  role  in  enhancing  the  sustainability  of ground water resources in the country.
- iii. M/o Jal Shakti has successfully demonstrated the efficacy of community led participatory ground water  management  through  Atal  Bhujal  Yojana,  which  was  implemented  in  80  water  stressed districts in 7 States. By educating and empowering the communities in scientific management of their ground water resources, this unique scheme has established a scalable decentralized ground water governance model. Under the scheme, construction/rejuvenation of more than 83,000 rain water harvesting and recharge structures was completed and more than 9 lakh Ha area was brought under efficient irrigation practices.
- iv. Further  leveraging  the  community  potential  for  strengthening  local  management  of  water resources,  Mission  Amrit  Sarovar  was  launched  by  the  Government  of  India  with  an  aim  to develop/rejuvenate at least 75 water bodies in each district of the country. As an outcome nearly 69,000 Amrit Sarovars have been constructed/rejuvenated in the country leading to enhanced water storage and ground water recharge.

(e) These  combined  measures  have  proven  pivotal  in  improving  ground  water  security  and  ensuring  long term  sustainability.  By  providing  more  precise  scientific  inputs  for  ground  water  related  planning   and improving the efficiency of usage, these have led to enhancement of groundwater levels and storage, playing a critical role in meeting the agricultural and domestic requirement of this vast country.

As  a  result  of  consistent  and  cumulative  efforts,  the  data  indicates  that  the  overall  ground  water situation  in  the  country  is  showing  steady  improvement.  As  per  the  dynamic  ground  water  resource assessment data of CGWB, total annual ground water recharge in the country has increased from 432 BCM (Billion Cubic Meters) to 448.52 BCM between 2017 to 2025. Similarly, the percentage of safe assessment units has increased from 62.6% to 73.14% and that of over-exploited units has declined from 17.2% to 10.8% during the same period.

***

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (b) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *4 TO  BE  ANSWERED  ON  29.01.2026  REGARDING  'DYNAMIC  GROUNDWATER RESOURCES ASSESSMENT, 2025'

Categorization of Assessment Units (AUs) in India and State of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh (As of 2025)

|                | Total No. of Assessed   | Safe   | Safe      | Semi- Critical   | Semi- Critical   | Critical   | Critical   | Over- Exploited   | Over- Exploited   | Saline   | Saline   |
|----------------|-------------------------|--------|-----------|------------------|------------------|------------|------------|-------------------|-------------------|----------|----------|
|                | Units                   | Nos.   | %         | Nos.             | %                | Nos.       | %          | Nos.              | %                 | Nos.     | %        |
| India          | 6762                    |        | 494673.14 | 758              | 11.21            | 201        | 2.97       | 730               | 10.8              | 127      | 1.88     |
| Maharashtra    | 359 (Taluks)            | 306    | 85.24     | 40               | 11.14            | 5          | 1.39       | 7                 | 1.95              | 1        | 0.28     |
| Madhya Pradesh | 317 (Blocks)            | 221    | 69.72     | 64               | 20.19            | 6          | 1.89       | 26                | 8.20              | 0        | 0        |

*****