Only 3% of the water available on the planet is fresh – and just a third of that is accessible to humans. With rising population and depleting per capita fresh water availability, Government of India is devoting about 3% of its national budget towards water investments. The water consumption in India is 1,900 billion litres per day (lpd). By 2050, it is estimated to increase to 2,463 billion lpd at a CAGR of 0.7 percent. Water as a resource is under relentless pressure. UN's medium projection estimates India's population to exceed 1.4 billion by 2025. The chronic water scarcity that already plagues many regions of the country is all but certain to intensify.

Water Demand (in BCM) for various Sectors:

Sector	Standing Sub - NCIWRD			Committee of MoWR
Year	2010	2025	2050	2010	2025	2050
Irrigation	688	910	557	1072	611	807
Drinking Water	56	73	102	43	62	111
Industry	12	23	63	37	67	81
Energy	5	15	130	19	33	70
Others	52	72	80	54	70	111
Total	813	1093	1447	710	843	1180

Source: GOI, 2006.

Due to steady population growth, overall socio-economic growth, rapid urbanisation, large-scale industrialisation and growing environmental concerns, water stress has emerged as a real threat. Municipal water and Waste-Water treatment, water recycle and reuse, industrial in-process and waste-water treatment hold key to sustainable water management.

Recognising the criticality of integrated water management, the Government of India revised the National Water Policy in 2002 and introduced many new schemes and projects for proper development and management of water resources. As per the policy, local bodies such as Municipalities, State Governments and the Private Sector should incorporate participatory approach in various aspects of planning, design, development and management of water resources scheme. Funding for projects has been enabled through programs like Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) for urban areas and Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission (RGNDWM) for rural India. International bodies like ADB and JICA are also increasingly funding water projects in India.

The Water and Waste-Water treatment market in India is estimated at ` 54 billion and poised to grow at 13% CAGR between 2010 and 2013. Industrial and Municipal sectors will be the major contributors followed by point-of-use purifiers. Power sector will boost the water market with ultra-pure water required in upcoming projects. Globally, water recycle and reuse market is expected to grow at 16% to reach $57 billion by 2015. Membrane filtration and desalination technologies are being used across the country to meet industrial water requirements.