Davos 2025: Need farsighted plan of action to ensure water conservation, says Union minister CR Patil

Jal Shakti minister highlights India's water conservation efforts at Davos 2025

Union minister of Jal Shakti CR Patil highlighted India’s initiatives in sustainable water management at Davos 2025, emphasizing that the country’s requirements for water are going to increase considerably by 2050.

“India witnesses around 4,000 BCM (billion cubic meters) of rainfall, out of which we require around 1,100 BCM…Yet, we are not saving the requisite amounts of water. And our needs are only going to increase by 2050,” the minister said while speaking to Moneycontrol at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos on January 24.

“At a time like this, we need to move forward with a plan of action, and our Prime Minister is working towards this end,” he added.

Patil highlighted several ongoing initiatives by the government aimed at water conservation and increasing access to drinking water.

“PM Modi has announced a Rs 70,000 crore project to link eleven rivers in Rajasthan. And in upcoming days Rajasthan’s water scarcity issue will be resolved. Similarly, he has worked towards linking rivers Ken and Betwa in Madhya Pradesh (MP) and Uttar Pradesh (UP,” the minister said.

According to Patil, as much as 10.62 lakh hectares of land, and 62 lakh people will get access to drinking water in MP and UP as a result of this initiative. Moreover, combined with the river-linking initiative in Rajasthan, almost 1.12 crore people will get access to drinking water, and 20.62 lakh hectares of land will get access to water.

The minister also brought up several initiatives undertaken by the government to improve rainwater conservation, including those launched by PM Modi such as Nal Se Jal in 2019, and Catch The Rain in 2021.

“Across Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar, we have built over 4 lakh rainwater harvesting structures, and we are aiming to take this figure to 10 lakh in the next one year,” he said, adding, “We have come to Davos to showcase the initiatives that have worked in India.”

The government is also working towards upscaling the usage of treated waste water across the country. According to the minister, successful models of tertiary treated water usage have been developed in regions like Surat.

“Similarly, the river Ganga passes through five states, and has 63 powerplants. Just three of these powerplants use tertiary treated water. We have sent the remaining plants notices and directed them to use tertiary treated water. This will create income, while fulfilling their needs,” he said.

This comes shortly after the central government's ambitious Har Ghar Jal mission, aiming to provide safe and adequate tap water to every rural household, missed its December 2024 deadline.

Four states – West Bengal, Rajasthan, Kerala, and Jharkhand – faced substantial delays, with about 46 per cent households in each of these states yet to get access to clean drinking water.