With Groundwater Levels Depleting, Centre Mulls Measures To Recycle Mining Water

Policies and Guidelines Supporting Water Recycling

Though India’s National Water Policy (2012) established water recycling and reuse as key principles for sustainable water management, detailed sectoral frameworks are still evolving. 

In the groundwater sector, programmes like Atal Bhujal Yojana (ABY) aim to improve groundwater management through community participation in priority states, integrating recharge enhancement and efficient use. Though not mining-specific, such initiatives create enabling environments for recycling and reuse practices that reduce pressure on aquifers. 

This is not limited to just government sites, but the private mining sector is also into water recycling, which automatically comes under the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme. 

During Financial Year 2016 and 25, Hindustan Zinc recycled 71 billion liters of water while reducing 28% of fresh water use in its operations.  

Despite these advances, industry-wide recycling rates aren’t uniformly tracked at a national level, and much work remains to scale reuse technologies and set clear national targets. 

“Earlier, underground water reserves were so abundant that water was easily available just 10–20 feet below the ground. However, due to continuous and excessive extraction, more than two-thirds of the country’s groundwater blocks have now entered the dark zone,” said environment activist Ramesh Goyal.

Annual Recharge of Groundwater 

According to the recent Central Ground Water Board’s (CGWB) Dynamic Ground Water Resources of India report, the total annual recharge of groundwater was about 448.52 billion cubic metres (BCM) in 2025, while total extractable groundwater resources stood at around 407.75 BCM, and total annual extraction was around 247.22 BCM. 

Though these figures indicate a national average extraction of around 60.63 %, certain regions like Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, and Rajasthan are categorised as over-exploited, reflecting groundwater extraction exceeding recharge in many parts of the country.

This crisis is acute in water-intensive sectors like agriculture and industry. However, another sector – mining contributes significantly to local water stress. 

Mining Operations

Mining operations require large volumes of water for ore processing, dust suppression, and mineral washing. When not managed sustainably, mine water exploitation and discharge can deteriorate groundwater quality and deplete aquifers.

An increase in population, along with rapid urbanisation and industrialisation, has put a lot of pressure on available water resources, and it is believed that the world could face a 40% water deficit by 2030 under the Business-as-Usual (BAU) scenario.

India is also facing water crises. Groundwater, a lifeline for agriculture, industry, and drinking purposes, is under unprecedented pressure due to decades of over-extraction, inefficient management, and climatic variability. 

According to the Ministry of Coal, per capita availability of water has fallen from ~ 5000 cubic metres in 1950 to somewhere around 1500 cubic metres in 2020. 

If it declines further to around 1,000-1,100 cubic metres, then India could be declared a water-stressed country.

“The mine is 300 metres below the ground, and other than coal, water is our byproduct. The mine water is collected in sumps, and before releasing the water into the nearby ponds, we treat the water in our Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) under high pressure. That’s how the water is transported to the local villages,” sources in the Northern Coalfields Limited (NCL) said.

Sarita Sachdeva, Executive Director and Dean of Research, Manav Rachna International Institute for Research and Studies, highlights the challenges in water recycling in the mining industry. She said that the capital cost and operational complexity discourage many operators from investing beyond basic treatment. Moreover, India still lacks uniform standards and clear policy incentives to mandate or financially support high-level industrial water reuse.

“Advanced treatment systems such as membrane filters, reverse osmosis and zero-liquid-discharge plants — which can dramatically boost reuse — are expensive to install and operate, and require high energy, skilled staff and regular maintenance, making them hard to adopt, especially for smaller mines. Countries have adopted and implemented technologies beyond the tertiary level to recycle water,” Sachdeva said.  

Shortage of Trained Personnel

She further added that there is a shortage of trained personnel to run sophisticated recycling systems. Public and business perception issues also slow adoption of treated water reuse, even where feasible. As a result, despite pockets of innovation and government aims to better manage mine water, widespread recycling adoption in mining remains constrained by high costs, limited technology uptake and policy gaps.

Despite its potential, water recycling in mining in India faces barriers such as high upfront treatment costs, lack of uniform standards, and inadequate monitoring frameworks. There is also limited integration of mining water reuse strategies within broader water resource governance.

Groundwater scarcity in India is a multifaceted challenge that demands systemic solutions across sectors. Mining water recycling provides a practical and impactful approach to reduce freshwater demand, mitigate negative environmental impacts, and contribute to long-term groundwater sustainability. As policies evolve and technology improves, recycling must become a standard part of mining operations, helping India move toward a more circular and resilient water economy.