Consider the following statements:
- Statement-I: According to the United Nations' 'World Water Development Report, 2022', India extracts more than a quarter of the world's groundwater withdrawal each year.
- Statement-II: India needs to extract more than a quarter of the world's groundwater each year to satisfy the drinking water and sanitation needs of almost 18% of world's population living in its territory.
Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (c) Statement-I is correct but Statement-II is incorrect
Statement-I is correct: India is the world's largest user of groundwater, taking more than a quarter of the global total. Statement-II is wrong because most of that water goes to irrigation, not to drinking water and sanitation.
- ✓ Statement-I India is the largest groundwater user in the world, drawing an estimated 230 cubic kilometres a year, which is over a quarter of the global total.
- ✗ Statement-II Agriculture accounts for about 92 per cent of India's groundwater use (NCERT); drinking water and other domestic needs take only a small share. The high extraction is driven by irrigation, so the stated reason is false.
Remember · India draws over a quarter of the world's groundwater, but about nine-tenths of it goes to irrigation, not to drinking water and sanitation.
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 12 India: People and Economy, Ch 4 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- NCERT Class 12 · India: People and Economy, Chapter 4 “Agriculture accounts for most of the surface and groundwater utilisation, it accounts for 89 per cent of the surface water and 92 per cent of the groundwater utilisation.”
- World Bank: India Groundwater, a Valuable but Diminishing Resource ↗ “India is the largest user of groundwater in the world. It uses an estimated 230 cubic kilometers of groundwater per year - over a quarter of the global total.”
- IGRAC (UNESCO-hosted): India groundwater country profile ↗ · reference work “By 2022, groundwater abstraction was distributed as follows: 87% for irrigation (making agriculture the largest consumer). 11% for domestic use. 2% for industrial use.”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2023, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·