 Current data indicates that agricultural users consume approximately 83% of all the water used in the country annually. Of this total, there is increasing dependence on groundwater supplies, especially in areas with low or irregular rainfall. Expected growth in irrigated agriculture over the next quarter century will increase the demand for water dramatically, some estimates suggesting a 22% increase in irrigation water demand by the year 2025.
Water withdrawal is an energy-intensive operation with an estimated 30-40% of India's power consumption used for irrigation, including a significant proportion of wasted energy, due to pump inefficiency and other losses. Groundwater irrigation decisions at the farm level are based on availability of electricity rather than crop water needs. Power tariff structures unrelated to actual consumption and absent water pricing policies for groundwater leave farmers without incentives to conserve either resource. This cycle has lead to rapidly declining water tables and critical shortages of water in some areas. In response to declining water tables farmers install higher capacity pumps to lift water from greater and greater depths.
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