Government working a water pricing policy to check waste: Ahluwalia
15 Nov 2010
The government is working on a policy to price water to minimise its wastage.
According to planning commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, a group of ministers under the chairmanship of agriculture minister Sharad Pawar has been set up to to formulate a policy on water pricing.
''At the level of Planning Commission, we have to suggest what could be the key elements of this policy. We are working with the ministry of water resources and will submit our recommendations in a few months,'' Ahluwalia told media persons at the India Economic Summit yesterday.
He added the government would set targets for water conservation and efficiency in the 12th five year plan that starting April 2012.
India has to improve water-use efficiency by 20 per cent by 2017 under the National Water Mission which forms part of the National Action Plan on climate change. The mission calls for increasing water use efficiency by 20 per cent by 2017.
According to industry estimates and research reports, India is projected to have a 50 per cent shortage of water by 2030, at the time when key competitor China would have reduced its water demand-supply gap by half.