Key Terms & Concepts — UPSC Mains
CGWB
"Apex national agency under Ministry of Jal Shakti for groundwater monitoring, assessment, and management — flags ~30% of India's blocks as critical or over-exploited."
The Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) is the apex national agency under the Department of Water Resources, Ministry of Jal Shakti, responsible for groundwater monitoring, assessment, augmentation, and regulation in India. Established in 1970 by renaming the Exploratory Tube Wells Organization (ETO) of the Geological Survey of India, CGWB conducts the Dynamic Ground Water Resources Assessment of India (most recent: 2023) using the Ground Water Estimation Committee methodology. Block categorisation: 'Safe' (<70% extraction), 'Semi-Critical' (70-90%), 'Critical' (90-100%), and 'Over-Exploited' (>100% of annual recharge). As of the 2023 assessment, ~30% of India's assessed blocks fall in Critical or Over-Exploited categories — concentrated in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, parts of MP and UP. CGWB also manages the National Aquifer Mapping and Management Programme (NAQUIM), administers the Atal Bhujal Yojana (2020), and issues NOCs for industrial groundwater extraction in over-exploited blocks.
GS3 (water resources, environment). Prelims: founding year, parent ministry, categorisation thresholds, NAQUIM, Atal Bhujal Yojana. Mains: groundwater overexploitation, water security, industrial siting vs hydrology.
- 1 Established: 1970 (renaming of ETO under GSI)
- 2 Parent ministry: Jal Shakti (created 2019)
- 3 Categorisation: Safe (<70%), Semi-Critical (70-90%), Critical (90-100%), Over-Exploited (>100%)
- 4 Critical + Over-Exploited blocks: ~30% (2023 assessment)
- 5 NAQUIM: National Aquifer Mapping and Management Programme
- 6 Atal Bhujal Yojana: 2020 community-led groundwater scheme
- 7 Assessment methodology: Ground Water Estimation Committee
- 8 Stressed states: Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, parts of MP and UP
Business Standard's May 29, 2026 editorial cited CGWB data to argue that India's water-intensive industrial siting — semiconductor fabs in Gujarat, AI data centres in Bengaluru-Hyderabad — is colliding with the ~30% of blocks already in critical/over-exploited zones.
