Bengaluru: A new case study, 'From Gujarat to India: Water Lessons for the World', documenting the evolution of water governance in Gujarat and India between 2001 and 2026 was launched at IIM Bangalore on Wednesday, highlighting lessons for policymakers and practitioners across the Global South.
Daniel W Smith, assistant professor at George Mason University; Nitin Bassi, fellow at the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW); and Parameswaran Iyer, former secretary of the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Government of India, authored the study, IIMB said, in its statement.
According to the statement, the study traces a 25-year journey that began in Gujarat in 2001, when recurrent drought and water scarcity led to a combination of large-scale infrastructure, groundwater recharge, conservation, improved water-use efficiency, institutional reform, and community participation.
It describes Gujarat's water governance reforms between 2001 and 2014 as a laboratory for approaches later scaled nationally after 2014, it said, adding that the scale of the transformation is reflected in both financing and access.
"Among other lessons learned, one key finding is that Union water-sector allocations increased from 0.8 per cent of the total Union budget in 2001-02 to 2.2 per cent in 2025-26. Across rural India, 464 million more people use safely managed drinking water today than in 2000, while rural household tap coverage has increased from 17 per cent in 2019 to over 80 per cent in 2026," the study said.
Gujarat's response combined the Narmada-based water grid with institutions such as WASMO and village-level Pani Samitis, alongside large-scale water conservation and groundwater recharge. By 2013, the state had constructed more than 76,000 check dams under the Sardar Patel water conservation programme, it said.
It further said that the study traces how elements of this experience subsequently informed national initiatives, including Jal Jeevan Mission, Jal Shakti Abhiyan, Namami Gange, Atal Bhujal Yojana, Per Drop More Crop and AMRUT. In 2019, the creation of the Ministry of Jal Shakti provided a consolidated institutional framework for drinking water, sanitation and water-resource management.
Ashok K Meena, Secretary, Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Jal Shakti, said, "Ensuring water for every citizen has been a priority for the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Jal Shakti. The lesson has always been: when water becomes a people's mission, backed by strong institutions, steady investment, and Gram Panchayat ownership, change follows at scale. What began in one state has become a national commitment, and work will be relentless until safe, reliable water reaches every household in the country."
A central conclusion of the study is that water security is as much a governance challenge as an engineering challenge, it said.
"Infrastructure must be underpinned by the 4Ps: political leadership, public financing, partnerships and people's participation. The seeds of these lessons were sown in Gujarat starting in 2001 and then scaled up across the country under Prime Minister Modi's leadership," it said.
Parameswaran Iyer, former Secretary to the Government of India and co-author of the study, said: "Delivering water at this scale comes down to a few things done consistently: political leadership and priority, institutions with one clear line of accountability, and communities that own and maintain their own supply."
Looking ahead, the study highlights the opportunity to build on India's achievements through reliable service delivery, water quality, source sustainability, groundwater recharge, greater water-use efficiency and a circular water economy based on treatment and reuse of used water, the statement added.
This report was published from a wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.