Central Ground Water Authority has notified revised guidelines to regulate and control ground water extraction in India, which will be effective from 01.06.2019. The entire process of grant of NOC will be done online through a web based application system.
As per the revised guidelines, Water Conservation Fee (WCF) would be levied for use of ground water depending on the category of area, type of industry and quantum of ground water withdrawal. The details in this connection are given at Annexure – I.
Central Ground Water Board along with State Ground Water Organizations carry out periodic assessment of ground water resources. The assessment units viz. Blocks/ Talukas/ Mandals etc. are categorized as safe, semi critical, critical and over exploited depending on the stage of ground water development and significant decline of ground water levels. State/UT wise categorisation of Blocks/ Talukas/ Mandals (as on 2013) is given at Annexure – II.
ANNEXURE – I
- DRINKING AND DOMESTIC USE
All domestic users (having more than one inch dia delivery pipeline or, seeking second connection) and other proponents covered under infrastructure projects (except Government infrastructure projects and Government water supply agencies) would pay W.C.F. as per rates given below:
| Quantum of Groundwater withdrawal (m3/month) | Rate of W.C.F
(Rs. Per m3/month) |
| 0-25 | Exempted |
| 25-50 | Re 1/- |
| >50 | Rs 2/- |
Government water supply agencies and Government infrastructure projects shall pay W.C.F. at the rate of Rs. 0.50/- per m3/month
- Packaged drinking water (drawing more than 50m3/day)/ soft drinks/ breweries/distilleries
| S.No. | Category
of area
Ground water use |
Rate of Water Conservation Fee (Rs. per m3/day) | |||
| < 200 m3/day | 200 to <1000 m3/day | 1000 to
<5000 m3/day |
5000 m3/day and above | ||
| 1. | Safe | 3.00 | 5.00 | 8.00 | 10.00 |
| 2. | Semi-critical | 5.00 | 10.00 | 15.00 | 20.00 |
| 3. | Critical | 10.00 | 20.00 | 40.00 | 60.00 |
| 4. | Over-exploited | 20.00 | 40.00 | 60.00 | 100.00 |
- Packaged Drinking Water units (drawing less than 50m3/day) and other industries
| S.No. | Category
of area
Ground water use |
Rate of Water Conservation Fee(Rs. per m3/day) based on quantum of ground water withdrawal | |||
| < 200 m3/day | 200 to <1000 m3/day | 1000 to
<5000 m3/day |
5000 m3/day and above | ||
| 1. | Safe | 1.00 | 2.00 | 3.00 | 5.00 |
| 2. | Semi-critical | 2.00 | 3.00 | 5.00 | 8.00 |
| 3. | Critical | 4.00 | 6.00 | 8.00 | 10.00 |
| 4. | Over-exploited | 6.00 | 10.00 | 16.00 | 20.00 |
4. Mining/ infrastructure dewatering projects
| S.No. | Category
of area
Ground water use |
Rate of Water Conservation Fee (Rs. per m3/day) | |||
| < 200 m3/day | 200 to <1000 m3/day | 1000 to
<5000 m3/day |
5000 m3/day and above | ||
| 1. | Safe | 1.00 | 2.00 | 2.50 | 3.00 |
| 2. | Semi-critical | 2.00 | 2.50 | 3.00 | 4.00 |
| 3. | Critical | 3.00 | 4.00 | 5.00 | 6.00 |
| 4. | Over-exploited | 4.00 | 5.00 | 6.00 | 7.00 |
ANNEXURE – II
CATEGORIZATION OF BLOCKS/ MANDALS/ TALUKS IN INDIA (2013)
| Sl.No. | States / Union Territories | Total No. of Assessed Units | Safe | Semi-critical | Critical | Over-exploited |
| Nos. | Nos. | Nos. | Nos. | |||
| States | ||||||
| 1 | Andhra Pradesh | 670 | 497 | 54 | 17 | 61 |
| 2 | Arunachal Pradesh | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Assam | 27 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Bihar | 534 | 520 | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Chhattisgarh | 146 | 125 | 18 | 2 | 1 |
| 6 | Delhi | 27 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 15 |
| 7 | Goa | 12 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Gujarat | 223 | 175 | 9 | 6 | 23 |
| 9 | Haryana | 119 | 30 | 11 | 14 | 64 |
| 10 | Himachal Pradesh | 8 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 11 | Jammu & Kashmir | 22 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | Jharkhand | 260 | 244 | 10 | 2 | 4 |
| 13 | Karnataka | 176 | 98 | 21 | 14 | 43 |
| 14 | Kerala | 152 | 131 | 18 | 2 | 1 |
| 15 | Madhya Pradesh | 313 | 228 | 58 | 2 | 25 |
| 16 | Maharashtra | 353 | 324 | 19 | 1 | 9 |
| 17 | Manipur | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | Meghalaya | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | Mizoram | 22 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | Nagaland | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | Odisha | 314 | 308 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | Punjab | 138 | 26 | 3 | 4 | 105 |
| 23 | Rajasthan | 248 | 44 | 28 | 9 | 164 |
| 24 | Sikkim | – | – | – | – | – |
| 25 | Tamil Nadu | 1139 | 429 | 212 | 105 | 358 |
| 26 | Telangana | 443 | 311 | 74 | 12 | 46 |
| 27 | Tripura | 39 | 39 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | Uttar Pradesh | 820 | 603 | 45 | 59 | 113 |
| 29 | Uttarakhand | 18 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 30 | West Bengal | 268 | 191 | 76 | 1 | 0 |
| Total (States) | 6533 | 4475 | 678 | 252 | 1033 | |
| Union Territories | ||||||
| 1 | Andaman & Nicobar | 34 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Chandigarh | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Dadra & Nagar Haveli | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Daman & Diu | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | Lakshadweep | 9 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Puducherry | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Total (UTs) | 51 | 45 | 3 | 1 | 1 | |
| Grand Total | 6584 | 4520 | 681 | 253 | 1034 |
This information was given by Union Minister of State for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
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