Climate Resilience, Water Finance and Innovation in Focus on Day 3 of India International Water Week 2026

The third day carried the 9th India International Water Week 2026 deeper into its technical programme, into the forward-looking questions of climate risk, early warning, glacial lake monitoring, water pricing and the financing of resilient water infrastructure. Sessions ran in parallel across the Water Leaders' Forum, Country Forum, Practitioners' Forum, Thematic Forum and Start-Up Forum. The Thematic Forum closed the third of its seven sub-themes and moved through the fourth and fifth.
The day also widened the Week's international reach. The Start-Up Forum gave startups, MSMEs and academia a platform to pitch problem-driven water solutions. On the sidelines, a bilateral meeting advanced India-Netherlands cooperation, with two tripartite MoUs signed.
India-Netherlands Bilateral Meeting
On the sidelines of the 9th India International Water Week-2026, a bilateral meeting between the Shri C R Patil, Minister of Jal Shakti and H.E. Mr. Jaap Slootmaker, Vice Minister for Infrastructure and Water Management, Netherlands, was held at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi. Shri Raj Bhushan Choudhary, Minister of State, Ministry of Jal Shakti, Shri Ishwarsinh Patel, Minister of State for Water Resources and Water Supply (Independent Charge), joined the meeting, along with H. E Marissa Gerard, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to India.
During the event, a tripartite MoU was signed between Central Water Commission, Kalpasar, Deptt. Govt. of Gujarat and Deltares, Netherlands for technical support. Another tripartite MoU was signed between CWC, Kalpasar Deptt. of Govt. of Gujarat and TU Delft Netherlands for capacity building and trainings. The MoUs will facilitate technical collaboration through sharing of Dutch expertise and advanced engineering practices for the planning, design and implementation of the project.


Country Forum (CF)
CF-4 on Private Capital Mobilisation in the Water Sector, convened with the World Bank, was chaired by Shri Baldeo Purushartha, Joint Secretary, DEA, GOI and co-chaired by Smt. Roshika Singh, Principal Country Officer, IFC India. The session opened with a keynote by Shri Saroj Kumar Jha, Global Water Director, World Bank, and was moderated by Mr. William Rex, Practice Manager for Water, World Bank, with Jain Irrigations, IFC India, Coca-Cola,VA Tech Wabag, Tata Capital, the Maharashtra Institution for Transformation (MITRA) and the Uttar Pradesh State Transformation Commission, on the reforms and financing mechanisms needed to unlock private investment in urban water, wastewater and irrigation.

Water Leaders' Forum (WLF)
WLF-3 on Improving Water Use Efficiency Using State-of-the-Art Technology in the Water Resources Sector, convened with the CII Water Institute, was chaired by P. C. Vyas, Principal Secretary, (Water Resources) Government of Gujarat, and co-chaired by Smt. Shilpa Nischal, Executive Director, CII Water Institute, with Grundfos, Murugappa Water Technology, Ion Exchange, Kritsnam Technologies and NITI Aayog, on smart metering, monitoring and technology for water-use efficiency.

WLF-4 on Climate Risk Assessment for Water Security, convened with the National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee, was chaired by Prof. Nagesh Kumar, Professor, IISc Bangalore, and co-chaired by Dr. Y. R. S. Rao, Director, NIH Roorkee, with ICHARM (Japan), IIT Bombay, IISc Bangalore, CWC and IIT Delhi, on integrating climate risk assessment into water governance and planning frameworks.

WLF-5 on Embedding Climate Action in Water Governance and Policies, convened with CEEW, was chaired by Shri Jogindra Singh IAS, Project Director, State Mission for Clean Ganga, Govt. of Uttar Pradesh, and co-chaired by Ms. Noa Amsalem, Water Attache, Embassy of Israel, with IIT Guwahati, WELL Labs Bengaluru, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Google, Council on Energy, Environment and Water and DCM Shriram, on shifting from managing climate risk to building resilience through governance reform.
WLF-6 on Climate-Resilient Adaptation Measures in Water Resources, convened with the National Dam Safety Authority was chaired by Shri Rakesh Kashyap, Chairman, National Dam Safety Authority and co-chaired by Shri Manoj Kumar Acharya, Former Chief Engineer, BODHI, Madhya Pradesh Water Resources Department, with IIT Delhi, HCL Foundation, IMD, GIZ and NDMA, addressed hydrological modelling for dams under a changing climate, glacial lake outburst floods, and the structural rehabilitation of earthen and rockfill dams, drawing on international financing experience for climate-resilient dam infrastructure.

Practitioners' Forum (PF)
PF-5 on Session on Best Practices, convened with the National Water Mission, was chaired by Shri Rajesh Toppo, Secretary, Water Resources, Government of Chhattisgarh, and co-chaired by Shri Atul Jain, Former Chairman, Central Water Commission, with district collectors and municipal commissioners from Tripura, Telangana and Surat; and Himalayan Environmental Studies and Conservation Organization, Ministry of Rural Development and The Rainwater Project, on integrating global best practices with the Ministry of Jal Shakti's efforts; the Jal Jeevan Mission now reports about 81.5% of rural households with tap water connections.
PF-6 on Water Disputes and Resolution, was chaired by Dr. Srinivas Chokkakula, President and Chief Executive, Centre for Policy Research and co-chaired by Shri P. Dorje Gyamba, Chairman, Godavari River Management Board, with the CWC, Supreme Court advocates, the National Water Academy, Pune, and river-basin management board representatives, examined Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanisms and the proposed Disputes Resolution Committee under the Inter-State River Water Disputes framework.
PF-7 on Jal-Sanskriti and HARIT Pathways: India's Water Heritage for a Resilient Future, was chaired by Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi, Padma Vibhushan, Former Union Minister, Ministry of Human Resource Development, on connecting India's traditional water culture, its sacred rivers, temple tanks and stepwells, with modern, climate-resilient water management, and on carrying that heritage into community-led conservation.

Thematic Forum (TF)
Six Thematic Forum sessions ran through the day, presenting shortlisted papers, closing the third of the Forum's seven sub-themes and moving through the fourth and fifth.
Sub-theme 3 and Sub-theme 4, Water in Climate-Related Risk: TF-9 Data-Driven Governance, chaired by Shri Sher Singh, Chairman, Ganga Flood Control Commission and Member (Floods), CWC, and co-chaired by Shri S. G. Bhartariya, Member (SAM), Central Ground Water Board with the National Water Informatics Centre, BISAG-N and the Government of Andhra Pradesh; TF-10 Early Warning System for Climate Risk Reduction, chaired by Dr. Krishna Vatsa, Member, National Disaster Management Authority, and co-chaired by Dr. D.R. Pattanaik, Scientist-G, India Meteorological Department; TF-11 Monitoring of Glacial Lake Outburst, chaired by Shri D. P. Mathuria, Chief Engineer (P&DO), Central Water Commission, and co-chaired by Dr. Surjeet Singh, Scientist 'G' & Head Centre for Cryosphere & Climate Change Studies (C4S), NIH Roorkee; and TF-12 Climate Change: Erratic Precipitation, was chaired by Dr. D.S. Pai, Scientist-G, India Meteorological Department and co-chaired by Dr. Ankur Srivastava, Scientist E, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune with the India Meteorological Department, CWPRS Pune, NIH Roorkee and CWC. Papers ranged over water informatics and AI-assisted data governance, drought and flood forecasting, AI-powered dam-safety early warning, glacial lake outburst flood vulnerability and monitoring across the Himalaya, and long-term rainfall and temperature trends under a changing climate. Among the papers were the indigenous HIM JHEEL NETRA glacial-lake monitoring system, a national-scale flood forecasting system, erosion modelling on the Brahmaputra, and geophysical investigations for dam safety.

Sub-theme 5, Innovative Financing Models: TF-13 Public-Private Partnerships for Water Finance and Innovative Financing Models, was chaired by Mr. Takeshi Ueda, Director, South Asia, Sector Department 2, Agriculture, Food, Nature, and Rural Development Sector Group, Asian Development Bank with co-chair Shri Rajesh Advani, Senior Water Specialist, World Bank, with the Asian Development Bank; and TF-14 Policy for Water User Charges, was chaired by Shri Sanjay Marwah, Member, Haryana Water Resources Authority, and co-chaired by Shri Subrata Singh, Executive Director, Foundation for Ecological Society. Papers examined green finance for WASH infrastructure, solar power potential along the Ken-Betwa link, and the restructuring of water user charges, including a comparative analysis of CGWA guidelines and AI-based canal-release optimisation, and made the case for water user charges as a lever for the long-term sustainability of irrigation.
Start-Up Forum (SUF))
The Start-Up Forum, chaired by Prof. Umesh V. Waghmare, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology and co-chaired by Col. Saurabh Sanyal, Secretary General, ASSOCHAM showcased problem-driven solutions from startups, MSMEs and academia across water resources management, wastewater treatment, irrigation efficiency and smart water systems, including prototypes developed through partnerships between startups, industry and academia. The forum also provided startups with an opportunity to present practical, deployable solutions to a panel of experts and investors.
The Ministry has also strengthened engagement with academic institutions and students to provide them with first-hand exposure to the challenges and opportunities in the water sector.
After having several meetings with the AICTE in coordination with Ministry of Education last year, Jal Seva Adhyayan initiative is being implemented in collaboration with AICTE. 49 teams, comprising students and faculty, visited 132 villages across the country from February till April 2026. They gained first-hand exposure to rural drinking water service delivery and submitted detailed field reports based on their observations. Around 50 participating students also joined the Roundtable Conference with African Ambassadors at Bharat Mandapam. Following the roundtable, a special interaction session titled "Peyjal Ki Baat: Jal Shakti Minister ke Saath" was organised, providing students a unique opportunity to engage directly with the leadership of the Ministry of Jal Shakti and discuss challenges, innovations and opportunities in the water sector.
The interaction highlighted the importance of youth participation, innovation and community engagement in strengthening the country's water sector. Students were encouraged to take their learnings beyond the classroom, apply their technical knowledge to real-world challenges and contribute towards building a Viksit Bharat 2047. The discussion focused on the transformative impact of the Jal Jeevan Mission on rural lives, the importance of safe drinking water, water quality surveillance through community participation, the growing role of digital technology and AI, and the need for innovative, practical and scalable solutions to address emerging water-sector challenges.

Addressing the students, Shri C R Patil, Union Minister of Jal Shakti, emphasised that the Jal Jeevan Mission is not merely an infrastructure programme but a transformational initiative linked to health, dignity, women's empowerment and quality of life. He urged students to develop innovative and cost-effective technological solutions for the water sector and stressed the importance of dialogue and consensus in resolving water-related challenges.
Shri Raj Bhushan Choudhary, Union Minister of State for Jal Shakti, encouraged students to study global best practices, leverage AI, digital technologies and social media, and identify solutions emerging from rural communities and grassroots innovators.
Shri Ashok K.K. Meena, Secretary, Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, underlined the need to expose engineering students to ground-level realities of rural water supply systems and informed that, in collaboration with AICTE, efforts are underway to introduce water governance-related academic courses and expand the outreach of Jal Seva Adhyayan to engineering institutions nationwide.
Smt. Archana Varma, Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, highlighted the transformative potential of information technology and artificial intelligence in water governance and called upon students to apply their technical expertise in public service, innovation and sustainable water management for national development.
Shri Kamal Kishore Soan, Additional Secretary and Mission Director, National Jal Jeevan Mission, welcomed the panelists and the students to the interactive session. He briefed about the Jal Seva Adhyayan, and the upcoming water management course by AICTE.

Technical Sessions
The first technical session, "Water Supply Systems: O&M, Infrastructure & Source Sustainability," focused on strengthening the long-term sustainability of rural water supply systems. Four papers were presented covering themes including GIS-based assessment of water supply infrastructure, water pricing strategies, water footprint assessment for sustainable water resources management, and approaches to strengthening community ownership in piped drinking water systems. The discussions highlighted the importance of effective operation and maintenance, infrastructure and asset management, financial sustainability, and community participation in ensuring reliable water services.

The second technical session, "Water Quality, Safety & Emerging Contaminants," focused on water safety and quality management in the context of emerging challenges. Five papers examined community-led climate-resilient interventions for water security, evaluation of field test kits for water safety planning, emerging contaminants and environmental laws, water quality challenges in India, and the use of digital tools for tracking water refill stations. The presentations highlighted the need for stronger water quality monitoring, water safety planning, community participation, and technology-enabled approaches.

Another session, "Financing, Economic Models & Techno-Economic Solutions," deliberated on approaches to improving the financial and technological sustainability of water and sanitation services. Four papers covered innovative models for rural water supply, wastewater treatment and cost recovery, local economic models for sustaining rural drinking water services, and low-cost atmospheric water harvesting solutions. The session highlighted the role of appropriate technologies, local economic models, capacity building, and innovative approaches in supporting sustainable water services.
The fourth technical session, "Climate Resilience, Nature-Based Solutions & Sanitation/Other," focused on approaches for strengthening the resilience of WASH systems in the face of climate-related challenges. Four papers covered digital intelligence and machine learning applications in sewage sludge management, sanitation innovation through start-ups and public-private partnerships, approaches to building water consciousness, and AI-enabled mechanised and robotic operation and maintenance of WASH infrastructure. The discussions highlighted the role of technology, innovation, partnerships and systems strengthening in addressing emerging challenges in water and sanitation.