Permission to Use Groundwater for Your Industry, Building or Project

Groundwater is under severe pressure in much of north India, and drawing it for industrial or commercial use needs permission. The Central Ground Water Authority regulates groundwater extraction under guidelines issued in September 2020, as amended, through an online No Objection Certificate system. In some states, a state authority under state law issues the permission instead: Uttar Pradesh has its own Ground Water (Management and Regulation) Act, 2019, and Haryana regulates through its Water Resources Authority. Drawing groundwater without a required NOC can lead to sealing of borewells, environmental compensation and penalties.

This page explains who needs a groundwater NOC, which authority to approach, the exemptions, the conditions such as meters and recharge, abstraction charges, renewal, and how to deal with enforcement.

Is this your situation?

Groundwater NOC at a glance

CGWA or the state authority?

The first question is which authority regulates groundwater where your unit is. CGWA's guidelines apply in states that have not enacted their own groundwater law with a functioning authority. Where a state has its own law and authority, NOCs are issued under that law. In Uttar Pradesh, the Ground Water (Management and Regulation) Act, 2019 requires registration and NOCs for non-agricultural users through the state's system. In Haryana, the Water Resources (Conservation, Regulation and Management) Authority regulates groundwater use. Delhi, Rajasthan and other states have their own arrangements or rely on CGWA. Applying to the wrong authority wastes time and leaves the unit exposed. See CGWA.

How to get a groundwater NOC

Sealing, compensation and penalties

Authorities and pollution boards have sealed borewells drawing groundwater without NOC, especially in over-exploited areas and in NCR, where the National Green Tribunal has repeatedly addressed illegal extraction. Environmental compensation has been imposed for past illegal extraction, calculated on the quantity drawn and the area category. If your borewell is sealed, gather evidence of any application, the quantity actually drawn, metering data and the purpose of use, and apply for NOC or de-sealing with an undertaking to comply. If an environmental compensation demand is raised, examine the calculation closely; errors in assumed quantity are common. See environmental compensation demand.

Time and typical cost

Our fees are agreed in writing at the start, stage by stage. They are not linked to the outcome.

Documents usually needed

Laws that apply

How we work

We are a litigation and advisory practice led by Advocate BK Singh, with offices in Dwarka (New Delhi) and Vaishali (Ghaziabad). This is what you can expect:

• Right authority identified: CGWA or the state.
• Water balance that holds up: demand, recycling and recharge.
• Compliance set up: meters, piezometers and reporting.
• Fast response to sealing: and compensation demands.
• Written fee terms: agreed stage by stage, never linked to the outcome.

Mistakes we see with groundwater

What the area category means for you

Groundwater rules depend heavily on how stressed the area is. Assessment units, usually blocks, mandals or talukas, are categorised on the basis of the stage of groundwater extraction: safe where extraction is up to 70 per cent of annual extractable resource, semi-critical from 70 to 90 per cent, critical from 90 to 100 per cent, and over-exploited above 100 per cent. Large parts of Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, western Uttar Pradesh and Delhi fall in the critical or over-exploited categories.

The category affects whether new extraction is allowed, the abstraction charges, and the conditions on recharge and reuse. In over-exploited areas, new industries and projects face strict limits, and some kinds of use, such as packaged drinking water units, face additional scrutiny. Check the current assessment for your block before planning any project that relies on groundwater.

Dewatering during construction

Basements and foundations often require pumping out groundwater, and large construction sites in NCR have been penalised for dewatering without permission or for discharging the water into drains. Dewatering usually needs a separate permission under the CGWA guidelines or the state law, with conditions on measuring the quantity, using the water for construction, supplying it to the local body, or recharging it. The NGT has repeatedly addressed illegal dewatering in Delhi NCR. If your project has a deep basement, build dewatering into your approvals plan from the start.

Typical NOC conditions and how to prove compliance

Housing societies, hotels and hospitals

Group housing societies, malls, hotels, hospitals and institutions often assume groundwater rules are only for factories. They are not. Under the CGWA guidelines and state laws, many such users need permission, though individual households and some small users are exempt. Housing societies that depend on borewells because municipal supply is inadequate should apply for permission, meter their extraction and recharge, rather than wait for an enforcement drive. Where a society or building has an STP, using treated water for flushing and gardens reduces the groundwater demand and strengthens the application.