Groundwater Resources

Groundwater is the water stored beneath the earth's surface in porous rock layers called aquifers. It is a replenishable resource, meaning it gets naturally recharged by rainfall and other sources. The total amount of groundwater that can be replenished in India is 432 cubic kilometres.

The use of groundwater is not uniform across the country. Some regions draw heavily from it, while others use very little.

• High utilisation is found in the river basins of the north-western region and parts of south India. The states with the highest groundwater use are Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Tamil Nadu.
• Low utilisation is seen in states like Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and Kerala, which use only a small fraction of their available groundwater.
• Moderate utilisation is observed in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Tripura, and Maharashtra.