India accounts for 2.45 percent of land area and 4 percent of water resources of the world but represents 16 percent of the world population. Total utilizable water resource in the country has been estimated to be about 1123 BCM (690 BCM from surface and 433 BCM from ground), which is just 28 percent of the water derived from precipitation. About 85 percent (688 BCM) of water usage is being diverted for irrigation, which may increase to 1072 BCM by 2050. Major source for irrigation is groundwater. Annual groundwater recharge is about 433 BCM of which 212.5 BCM used for irrigation and 18.1 BCM for domestic and industrial use (CGWB, 2011).
By 2025, demand for domestic and industrial water usage may increase to 29.2 BCM. Thus, water availability for irrigation is expected to reduce to 162.3 BCM. With the present population growth-rate (1.9 percent per year), the population is expected to cross the 1.5 billion mark by 2050. Due to increasing population and allround development in the country, the per capita average annual freshwater availability has been reducing since 1951 from 5177 m3 to 1869 m3, in 2001 and 1588 m3, in 2010. It is expected to further reduce to 1341 m3 in 2025 and 1140 m3 in 2050.
