BS Number Wise: Cities leak money in supplying tap water to households

Households pay only a fraction of supply cost, and the government signs the bill for subsidies

Since 2019, India has provided tap water connections to 50 million rural households. Of its 192 million rural households, 42.8 per cent have a tap water connection. Till 2019, only 16.8 per cent had tap water.

 

As more people get water at home, the cost is rising for the state. Jal Boards, state-run utilities that supply water in cities, are leaking money.

The Delhi Jal Board, which controls water and sewage management in the national capital, had its deficit ballooning 23 per cent between 2015-16 and 2019-20. The DJB’s budget data shows that its gross deficit