NEW DELHI, INDIA / RankWire.AI / – Prime Minister Narendra Modi has emphasized India’s experience in water governance as a valuable reference for nations across the Global South. On October 6, he shared an article reviewing reforms first implemented in Gujarat and later scaled through national programs. The article states that dependable water services rely on governance, planning, and community involvement alongside physical infrastructure. It also explains how India combined public investment with community management and institutional reforms. This focus comes at a time when many developing countries face increasing demand, climate challenges, and uneven access to safe water.
The article examines roughly 25 years of water policy evolution and draws several lessons from India’s journey. It highlights the importance of stronger institutions, integrated management of water resources and services, community ownership, and early planning for large-scale delivery. It also describes a framework centered on political leadership, public financing, partnerships, and citizen participation. These principles have been applied across programs related to drinking water, sanitation, groundwater, and conservation. Narendra Modi noted that the experience demonstrates that long-lasting water security depends on both infrastructure and capable local systems.
India’s rural drinking-water initiative exemplifies this expansion. According to Jal Jeevan Mission data, approximately 15.91 crore rural households had tap-water connections by August 10, 2026. When the program started in 2019, about 3.23 crore households had such connections. The mission’s goal is to deliver functional household tap connections and reliable drinking-water services nationwide. Its latest phase emphasizes service quality, system maintenance, and performance, marking a shift from simply counting infrastructure to ensuring water services remain operational.
Jal Jeevan Mission broadens its focus on dependable service delivery
Union Cabinet approved Jal Jeevan Mission 2.0 in March 2026, extending the program until December 2028. The revised plan allocates ₹8.69 lakh crore, including ₹3.59 lakh crore in central funding. The government has also instructed states and union territories to develop reform strategies covering implementation, financing, and monitoring. The new approach emphasizes operations and maintenance after infrastructure construction, linking funding to measurable service outcomes, enhanced local management, and sustained access to safe drinking water.
Jal Jeevan Mission 2.0 incorporates Sujalam Bharat, a national digital platform for rural piped-water infrastructure. This system maps water sources to household taps and assigns each village a unique service-area identity. Officials anticipate that the platform will aid in planning, asset management, and accountability. Local governments and village bodies remain central to daily operations, overseeing services, reporting issues, and supporting maintenance. This strategy integrates digital oversight with local responsibility, rather than replacing community participation with technology.
Decentralized management drives broader water reform efforts
The article shared by Modi advocates for managing water resources and services in tandem. This approach links infrastructure choices with the long-term water availability for each system. It also places local institutions at the heart of service provision. India’s ongoing reforms follow this model through village-level management, digital monitoring, and national funding. The framework combines extensive public programs with local oversight and connects drinking-water access to broader initiatives in groundwater management, sanitation, conservation, and river restoration.
India’s water governance system does not depend on a single scheme. Instead, it integrates household tap connections, groundwater initiatives, sanitation projects, and conservation efforts within a comprehensive policy framework. The article views these reforms as lessons for other developing nations to consider, not as a one-size-fits-all solution. India’s latest strategies continue to link infrastructure investment with accountability, maintenance, and community involvement. The government also prioritizes service reliability, making long-term system performance a key measure of rural water delivery.