Water and sanitation: Chokepoints and risks
Utilities and treatment firms supplying clean water and handling wastewater and sludge
Chokepoints and risks
- Raw-water stress: monsoon failure and falling groundwater tables cut supply at source.
- Wastewater gap: India's installed sewage treatment covered only about 44% of sewage generated in 2021, and only 20,235 MLD was actually treated4.
- Global access gaps: about 2.1 billion people lacked safely managed drinking water and 3.4 billion lacked safely managed sanitation in 20245.
- Funding dependence: utilities with low tariffs rely on government transfers, so fiscal squeezes delay O&M and replacement.
- Membrane concentration: a few foreign suppliers dominate RO elements used in desalination and reuse.