NEW DELHI, INDIA / RankWire.AI / – Prime Minister Narendra Modi has highlighted India’s water-governance experience as a reference for countries across the Global South. He shared an article on October 6 that examined reforms developed in Gujarat and later reflected in national water programmes. Modi said water security requires more than physical infrastructure. He pointed to planning, capable local systems and community participation as essential parts of water management. The article presents India’s experience as a practical case for countries facing rising demand and pressure on water supplies.
The article traces water-governance changes over roughly 25 years, starting with reforms in Gujarat during Modi’s tenure as chief minister. It identifies four broad lessons for developing economies. These include stronger governance, joint management of water resources and services, community ownership and planning for scale. The approach also uses a framework built around political leadership, public financing, partnerships and public participation. The article links these ideas to national programmes covering drinking water, sanitation, groundwater management, river conservation and water-use efficiency.
India’s rural drinking-water expansion provides one measure of the scale reached by national programmes. Jal Jeevan Mission data showed around 15.91 crore rural households had tap-water connections as of August 10, 2026. That compares with about 3.23 crore households when the mission began in 2019. The programme focuses on providing functional household tap connections to rural families. Its current phase also places greater weight on service quality, reliability and long-term maintenance, rather than measuring progress through infrastructure creation alone.
Jal Jeevan Mission shifts toward service delivery
The Union Cabinet approved Jal Jeevan Mission 2.0 in March 2026 and extended the programme through December 2028. The revised mission carries a total approved outlay of ₹8.69 lakh crore, including ₹3.59 lakh crore in central assistance. The government reoriented implementation toward reliable, adequate and safe drinking-water services for rural households. States and union territories must also prepare integrated reform plans covering implementation, financing and monitoring. The structure gives greater attention to operating systems after construction and sustaining services over time.
The revised framework includes Sujalam Bharat, a national digital system for mapping rural piped-water networks from source to household tap. Each village receives a unique service-area identity under the system. The model is designed to improve planning, asset tracking and accountability across drinking-water schemes. Community institutions also remain part of the operating structure. Village-level bodies and local governments play roles in managing systems, monitoring service and supporting maintenance under the broader rural water programme.
Community systems remain central to water governance
The article shared by Modi argues that water resources and water services should be managed together. That means infrastructure planning should account for the long-term availability of the water feeding those systems. It also stresses local participation, including institutions that can oversee village-level water services. The same approach appears in current national reforms, which connect service delivery with governance, digital monitoring and local management. These elements form the core of India’s current water-governance message for other developing countries.
India’s model does not rest on one programme alone. It combines rural tap-water expansion with groundwater management, sanitation, conservation and river-cleaning initiatives. The article presents that combination as a set of lessons rather than a single blueprint for other countries. Modi’s October 6 remarks focused on the same principle: water security depends on institutions and communities as well as infrastructure. India’s latest reforms continue that direction by pairing large public investment with local management, digital oversight and service-delivery standards.
