NEW DELHI, INDIA / RankWire.AI / – Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pointed to India’s experience in water governance as a valuable model for nations across the Global South. On October 6, he shared an article reviewing reforms initially developed in Gujarat and later scaled up through national initiatives. The article emphasizes that dependable water services rely on governance, planning, and community engagement alongside physical infrastructure. It highlights how India combined public investment with community management and institutional reforms. This focus arises as many developing countries face increasing demand, climate challenges, and unequal access to safe water.
The article examines approximately 25 years of water policy evolution, drawing several lessons from India’s journey. It underscores the importance of stronger institutions, integrated management of water resources and services, community ownership, and proactive planning for large-scale delivery. The framework described is built around political leadership, public financing, partnerships, and public participation. These principles have been applied across programs related to drinking water, sanitation, groundwater, and conservation. Modi stated that the Indian experience demonstrates that lasting water security depends on both infrastructure and capable local systems.
A key example of this expansion is India’s rural drinking-water program. Data from Jal Jeevan Mission indicated that about 15.91 crore rural households had tap-water connections by August 10, 2026. When the program started in 2019, around 3.23 crore households had such connections. The mission’s goal is to ensure functional household tap connections and reliable drinking-water services throughout rural India. Its latest phase emphasizes service quality, system maintenance, and performance, reflecting a broader shift from merely counting infrastructure to actively monitoring whether water services are operational.
Jal Jeevan Mission broadens focus on dependable water services
Union Cabinet approved Jal Jeevan Mission 2.0 in March 2026, extending the program through December 2028. The revised initiative has an approved budget of ₹8.69 lakh crore, which includes ₹3.59 lakh crore in central assistance. The government has also instructed states and union territories to develop reform plans covering implementation, financing, and monitoring. The new framework emphasizes operations and maintenance post-construction and links funding to measurable service delivery, stronger local management, and sustained access to safe drinking water.
Jal Jeevan Mission 2.0 features Sujalam Bharat, a national digital platform for rural piped-water infrastructure. This system maps water sources to household taps and assigns each village a service-area identity. Officials anticipate the platform will facilitate planning, asset management, and accountability. Local governments and village institutions remain central to day-to-day management, with community bodies helping oversee services, report issues, and support maintenance. This approach combines digital monitoring with local responsibility, avoiding the misconception that technology alone can replace community involvement.
Decentralized management supports broader water reform efforts
The article shared by Modi advocates for integrated management of water resources and services, asserting that infrastructure decisions should be linked to the long-term availability of water for each system. It also emphasizes the importance of local institutions in service delivery. India’s ongoing water reforms follow this model through village-level management, digital oversight, and national funding. The approach combines large-scale public programs with local oversight and connects access to drinking water with wider initiatives in groundwater management, sanitation, conservation, and river restoration.
India’s water governance strategy does not depend on a single scheme but integrates household tap connections, groundwater projects, sanitation, and conservation under a comprehensive policy framework. The reforms are presented as lessons for other developing nations rather than a universal blueprint. India’s recent measures continue to link infrastructure investments with accountability, maintenance, and community participation, with a focus on ensuring service reliability as a key indicator of rural water system performance.