Over 81% Rural Households Now Have Tap Water: Govt
The government has stepped up efforts to strengthen water security across the country, with over 81 per cent of rural households now having access to tap water under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM).
In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Jal Shakti V. Somanna said that since the launch of JJM in August 2019, more than 12.58 crore rural households have been provided tap water connections. As of March 3, 2026, around 15.82 crore of the total 19.36 crore rural households have access to piped water supply at home.
At the start of the mission, only 3.23 crore households, or 16.7 per cent, had tap water connections.
The government has proposed an allocation of ₹67,670 crore for the Jal Jeevan Mission in the Budget Estimates for 2026–27. The next phase of the mission will focus on improving infrastructure quality and operation and maintenance of rural water supply systems through public participation under the “Jan Bhagidhari” approach.
The Centre continues to support states and Union Territories with financial and technical assistance, while implementation and maintenance of drinking water schemes remain their responsibility.
To address challenges in water-scarce and drought-prone regions, provisions have been made for bulk water transfer, regional supply schemes, and recharge measures such as rainwater harvesting and rejuvenation of water bodies in convergence with other schemes.
The Central Ground Water Board, under its Ground Water Management and Regulation scheme, is implementing measures for monitoring, assessment, and conservation of groundwater resources. According to the 2025 assessment, the total annual groundwater recharge stands at 448.52 billion cubic metres, while extraction is estimated at 247.22 billion cubic metres, indicating a national extraction stage of 60.63 per cent.
In urban areas, water supply and infrastructure are being strengthened through the AMRUT and AMRUT 2.0 missions. Under these programmes, 246 lakh tap connections have been provided, over 93,000 km of water pipelines have been laid or upgraded, and a water treatment capacity of 5,178 MLD has been created.
The AMRUT 2.0 mission, launched in 2021 with an outlay of ₹2.77 lakh crore, focuses on making cities water secure through universal coverage of water supply and sewerage systems, along with rejuvenation of water bodies and development of green spaces.
To ensure water quality, the government follows BIS standards and allows states to allocate up to 2 per cent of JJM funds for water quality monitoring and surveillance. A handbook released in December 2024 provides guidance for comprehensive testing and quality assurance across supply systems.
The Jal Jeevan Mission has also adopted digital monitoring tools, including geo-tagging of assets, Aadhaar-linked data systems, sensor-based IoT pilots, and dashboard-based tracking to improve transparency and efficiency in implementation.
