STATE OF WATER

Groundwater under stress

India’s annual extractable groundwater is estimated at 407.8 billion cubic metres, with recharge at roughly 448.5 BCM. Fifteen states and Union Territories have overexploited groundwater resources.

Highlights

Stage of groundwater extraction · 2025

61%of annual extractable groundwater is extracted for irrigation, domestic and industrial uses

Annual extractable resource: 407 BCM | Annual extraction: 247 BCM

Overexploitation

states/UTs have overexploited locations where extraction is higher than recharge.

Contamination

409

districts across 26 states/UTs recorded anomalous nitrate values.

Explore the data

Groundwater availability

Annual extractable groundwater resource and annual extraction for irrigation, domestic and industrial uses.

Extractable resource · 2025407 BCM

Extraction · 2025247 BCM

Stage of extraction61%

Groundwater extraction trend

Annual extractable resourceAnnual extraction

Groundwater stress hotspots

Three states—Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana—continue to extract more groundwater than what gets recharged.

≤70% Safe>70–≤90% Semi-critical>90–≤100% CriticalOver-exploited

Select state / UT

State labels show assessed units followed by the source percentages in the coloured groundwater categories. Click a state or visible label, or use the selector above.

Selected state / UTRajasthan

Groundwater contamination

Select one of the six common contaminants. The map retains visible district counts from the source graphics.

NitrateIronFluorideSalinityUraniumArsenic

Nitrate409 districtsacross 26 states/UTs

ThresholdNO3 > 45 mg/L

Select mapped state / UT

Map labels show the number of districts in which anomalous values of the selected contaminant were detected at one or more locations in pre-monsoon 2024. Click a state or visible label, or use the selector above.

Selected state / UTMadhya Pradesh

Districts with anomalous value44

Selected contaminantNitrate

Marginal improvement

Over 16% of groundwater sources are over-exploited, critical or affected by salinity, compared with 20% last year.

Assessment units by status

SafeSemi-criticalCriticalOver-exploitedSaline