Lok Sabha Question No. 90 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-01-29
Subject: Wastewater Reuse and Recycling under AMRUT
Ministry: HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS
Asked by: Shri Krishna Prasad Tenneti

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 90

TO BE ANSWERED ON 29 JANUARY, 2026

## WASTEWATER REUSE AND RECYCLING UNDER AMRUT

## NO. 90. SHRI KRISHNA PRASAD TENNETI:

Will the Minister of HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a) the  details  of  the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  promote wastewater reuse and recycling under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) during the last five years, especially in Andhra Pradesh;
- (b) the  details  of  the  current  wastewater  treatment  capacity  in  the country along with the quantum of treated water reused/reclaimed, year and State-wise;
- (c) the details of the number and capacity of Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs), their actual utilisation levels and the gap between installed and operational capacity, State-wise;
- (d) the details of the issues faced in achieving full utilisation of STPs including  infrastructure  constraints,  energy  costs,  lack  of  reuse infrastructure,  financial  sustainability  and  operational  challenges; and
- (e) the details of the measures taken by the Government to enhance reuse of treated wastewater for agriculture, industry and urban nonpotable purposes along with the targets fixed and the present status of the same across the country, State-wise, particularly in Andhra Pradesh, district-wise?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS (SHRI TOKHAN SAHU)

(a) to (e): Water  and  sanitation  is  State  subject.  Government  of  India supplements the efforts of the States through schematic interventions/ advisories.  It  provides  financial  and  technical  support  to  the  States through various Mission/ Schemes such as Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and AMRUT 2.0.

Under AMRUT, a total of 889 sewerage and septage management projects amounting to ₹34,467 crore have been grounded. Through these projects, about 6,299 Million Litres per Day (MLD) of sewage treatment capacity has been approved, out of which 1,437 MLD capacity has been developed for recycle and reuse of treated waste water.

AMRUT 2.0 has been launched on 1 st  October, 2021 in all Urban Local Bodies  (ULBs)/  cities  including  ULBs  in  Andhra  Pradesh,  enabling  the cities  to  become  'self-reliant'  and  'water  secure'.  Providing  universal coverage of sewerage and septage management in 500 AMRUT cities is one  of  the  major  focus  areas  of  AMRUT  2.0.  AMRUT  2.0  has  been envisaged to promote circular economy of water through development of city water balance plan for each city focusing on recycle/ reuse of treated sewage, rejuvenation of water bodies and water conservation, etc. Under Sewerage component of the AMRUT 2.0 for 500 AMRUT cities, tertiary treatment  with  end-to-end  reuse  plan  (preferably  in  Public  Private Partnership mode); provision/ augmentation and rehabilitation of sewerage systems with end-to-end treatment and reuse; tapping of used water for recycling; identifying the bulk users of recycled used water and facilitating sale of used water to potential users (e.g. industrial clusters such as textile/ leather/ paper/ power plants/ railways, etc.) are admissible components.

Under AMRUT 2.0, 583 sewerage/septage projects worth ₹66117.69 crore  have  been  approved  by  Ministry  of  Housing  and  Urban  Affairs (MoHUA) so far. Approved projects cover 6,649 MLD sewage treatment ent capacity  (new/augmentation)  of  which  1,931  MLD  sewage  treatm capacity is for recycle/reuse.

As per the information updated by States in City Water Balance Plans (CWBP) as in 2021, State/UT-wise details of no. of STPs, their design & operational  capacities  and  treated  water  reused/reclaimed  is  given  in

Annexure -I.

STPs are designed considering prospective population of next 15 years, therefore, in initial period the operation capacity remains lesser than the designed capacity. The key issues in achieving full utilisation of STPs  includes  insufficient  sewerage  network  infrastructure  and  house service connections. Operational efficiency of STPs is also influenced by technical  capacity,  High  energy  cost,  availability  of  skilled  manpower, maintenance  practices, etc. Further, reuse of  treated  wastewater depends  on  availability  of  downstream  reuse  infrastructure  such  as conveyance pipelines and assured offtake from bulk users, etc.

MoHUA has launched  "Jal  Hi  AMRIT"  initiative  under  AMRUT  2.0 reforms, which aims to incentivize States and Union Territories (UTs) to efficiently manage sewage treatment plants for recyclable treated water meeting environmental standards on sustained basis. The focus of this initiative is building capacity and incentivizing qualitative improvements in  the  treated  discharge  effluent.  To  institutionalize  circularity,  Water Resource Recovery Cells (WRRCs) have been established in 25 States/ Union Territories under this initiative to plan, monitor, and scale resource recovery interventions.

The  State  Government  of  Andhra  Pradesh  has  informed  that  129 numbers of STPs are established with installed capacity of 703.65 MLD in the urban areas. Treated water reused quantity is 123.02 MLD. Treated used water is used for industrial purpose in ULBs like Visakhapatnam, Tirupathi  and  Tadipatri.  In  11  ULBs  it  is  used  for  horticulture,  parks, divider  plantations  etc.  In  all  other  ULBs  treated  wastewater  is  let  in agriculture fields for use by farmers. District-wise details of quantity of reuse of treated water is given in Annexure-II.

Andhra  Pradesh's  Treat  Water  Reuse  Policy  promotes  circular economy in used water sector. It mandates use of treated used water in industries,  big  commercial  users,  Railways,  bulk  consumers  situated within 10 km radius of ULB, landscaping, rejuvenation of ponds/ lakes, etc. Usage for agriculture, horticulture and irrigation is optional.  Treated used water is offered free of cost.

*****

ANNEXURE-I REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) to (e) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.90 REGARDING 'WASTEWATER REUSE AND RECYCLING UNDER AMRUT', DUE FOR ANSWER IN THE LOK SABHA ON 29.01.2026. State-wise STP designed capacity and reuse of used water (as per information submitted in city water balance plan by the States/ UTs on AMRUT 2.0 portal as in 2021)

(Capacity in MLD)

| State                                |   No. of STPs |   STP Designed Capacity |   STP Operational Capacity |   Quantity of treated water Reuse |
|--------------------------------------|---------------|-------------------------|----------------------------|-----------------------------------|
| ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR ISLANDS          |            38 |                    0.75 |                       0.55 |                              0.55 |
| ANDHRA PRADESH*                      |           129 |                  703.65 |                     502.35 |                            123.02 |
| ARUNACHAL PRADESH                    |             1 |                    3    |                       0    |                              0    |
| ASSAM                                |             1 |                    2    |                       2    |                              2    |
| BIHAR                                |            19 |                  577.31 |                     231    |                              4.5  |
| CHANDIGARH                           |             6 |                  248.18 |                     248.18 |                            131.8  |
| CHHATTISGARH                         |            35 |                  354.51 |                     293.01 |                            190.14 |
| DADRA & NAGAR HAVELI AND DAMAN & DIU |             2 |                   17.21 |                       6.61 |                              4.23 |
| DELHI                                |            40 |                 3033.48 |                    2758.19 |                            421.59 |
| GOA                                  |             8 |                   97.4  |                      29.67 |                              0.16 |
| GUJARAT                              |           130 |                 5266.3  |                    3693.23 |                           1108.79 |
| HARYANA                              |           156 |                 2068.15 |                    1486.33 |                            278.07 |
| HIMACHAL PRADESH                     |            74 |                  185.41 |                     122.23 |                              5.62 |
| JAMMU AND KASHMIR                    |            16 |                  129.19 |                      73.64 |                              0    |
| JHARKHAND                            |            12 |                   82    |                      50    |                             43.6  |
| KARNATAKA                            |           192 |                 2878.04 |                    2390.35 |                           1053.31 |
| KERALA                               |            18 |                  262.28 |                     185.69 |                              7.61 |
| LADAKH                               |             1 |                    3    |                       3    |                              0    |
| LAKSHADWEEP                          |             0 |                    0    |                       0    |                              0    |
| MADHYA PRADESH                       |            78 |                 1315.26 |                     829.61 |                            202.15 |
| MAHARASHTRA                          |           203 |                 8005.6  |                    6992.53 |                           1211.11 |
| MANIPUR                              |             1 |                   27    |                      21    |                              0    |
| MEGHALAYA                            |             1 |                    0.12 |                       0    |                              0    |
| MIZORAM                              |             1 |                   10    |                       1    |                              0    |
| NAGALAND                             |             2 |                   50.86 |                       0    |                              0    |
| ODISHA                               |            25 |                  329.63 |                     138.73 |                              8.22 |
| PUDUCHERRY                           |             2 |                   51    |                      44.19 |                             32.45 |
| PUNJAB                               |           132 |                 2211.05 |                    1909.85 |                             85.47 |
| RAJASTHAN                            |            99 |                 1077.25 |                     891.48 |                            448.32 |
| SIKKIM                               |             3 |                   21.52 |                      19.52 |                              0    |
| TAMIL NADU                           |            84 |                 1723.62 |                     932.35 |                            240.22 |
| TELANGANA                            |            37 |                 1131.41 |                     772.33 |                            358.12 |
| TRIPURA                              |             2 |                   18    |                       8.4  |                              3.73 |
| UTTAR PRADESH                        |           116 |                 3742.05 |                    2995.05 |                            519.71 |
| UTTARAKHAND                          |            62 |                  425.03 |                     295.56 |                             14    |
| WEST BENGAL                          |            28 |                  491.94 |                     376.82 |                             36    |

| State   | No. of STPs   | STP Designed Capacity   | STP Operational Capacity   | Quantity of treated water Reuse   |
|---------|---------------|-------------------------|----------------------------|-----------------------------------|
| Total   | 1,754         | 36,543.2                | 28,304.45                  | 6,534.49                          |

*As informed by the State as on 27.01.2026

ANNEXURE-II REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) to (e) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.90 REGARDING 'WASTEWATER REUSE AND RECYCLING UNDER AMRUT', DUE FOR ANSWER IN THE LOK SABHA ON 29.01.2026. District-wise details of quantity of reuse of treated water in Andhra

## Pradesh

| S.No   | Name of the ULB   |   Installed Capacity (in MLD) | Quantity of treated sewage utilised (in MLD)   | Purpose of reused treated water                                          |
|--------|-------------------|-------------------------------|------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1      | Visakhapatnam 233 |                         36    |                                                | Agriculture, Gardening and Industries                                    |
| 2      | Rajamahendravaram |                         32    | 0.5                                            | Plantation and Greenery                                                  |
| 3      | Vijayawada        |                        133.3  | 34.6                                           | Agriculture                                                              |
| 4      | Narsaraopet       |                         15.55 | 2                                              | Gardening                                                                |
| 5      | Ongole            |                         15    | 3                                              | Divider plantation                                                       |
| 6      | Tirupati          |                         55    | 31.56                                          | Industry & Agriculture                                                   |
| 7      | Pulivendula       |                         10    | 3                                              | Parks                                                                    |
| 8      | Kurnool           |                          9.9  | 0.56                                           | Parks and central medians                                                |
| 9      | Yemmiganur        |                         19.8  | 5                                              | Agriculture                                                              |
| 10     | Tadipatri         |                         14.25 | 6.5                                            | Agriculture & Industry                                                   |
| 11     | Puttaparthi       |                          3.5  | 0.3                                            | Grass cultivation by Sri Satya Sai Central trust Gokulam and agriculture |
|        | Total             |                        541.3  | 123.02                                         |                                                                          |