Abstract

This report examines why India’s water systems, despite significant infrastructure investment, often fail to deliver reliable services. Drawing on eight field cases from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Odisha, it finds that the core problem lies not in access but in performance—weak operations and maintenance, fragmented management across water, used water, and stormwater systems, unaddressed energy inefficiencies, and institutions unable to keep pace with rapid urbanisation. The report highlights pathways for states to diversify water sources, manage demand alongside supply, value long-term operations as much as new construction, plan the water cycle as one system, and target subsidies to protect the poor without eroding financial sustainability. It concludes with a practical, phased roadmap for states to move from funding infrastructure to stewarding the systems that make it work.