India's Jal Jeevan Mission 2.0 likely to unlock Rs 3 lakh crore O&M opportunity: Report

New Delhi, March 24 (IANS) Jal Jeevan Mission 2.0 will lead to Rs 3 lakh crore of operations and maintenance opportunities as the programme shifts from building infrastructure to ensuring that the connections are sustainably operated and maintained, a report said on Tuesday.

The report from ICRA said the mission’s total outlay more than doubled to Rs. 8.69 lakh, and the shift to service-delivery model will support Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) sector.

Further, the extended timeline and higher outlay should improve receivable cycles, and it will fall below 60 days by September 2026, which have currently stretched beyond six months in several states, the firm said.

The implementation timeline to achieve 100 per cent coverage for 19.4 crore rural households has been extended till December 2028 from the previous deadline of 2024.

The firm predicted that organised manufacturers capable of scaling production, especially in the PVC (polyvinyl chloride) and HDPE (high-density polyethylene) segments, are expected to benefit.

The shift toward functionality, uptime, and energy efficiency favours branded, technically capable manufacturers with strong service networks.

From FY25 onwards, large cuts at the revised estimate stage led to a sharp divergence between budgeted outlay and actual expenditure, highlighting execution bottlenecks, quality concerns, and a policy shift towards sustainable service delivery.

The Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), launched in August 2019, aims to provide safe and adequate potable water through tap connections and subsumes the National Rural Drinking Water Programme.

Since launch, households with tap water connections have increased nearly five-fold from 323.6 lakh to 1,582.3 lakh, raising rural coverage to over 81 per cent as of February 2026.

The prevalence of deficiencies, despite achieving high coverage, necessitated the transition to a quality-service approach, the firm noted.

JJM 2.0 shifts the emphasis to reliable service delivery, through O&M systems, water quality monitoring, and digital oversight through the Sujalam Bharat platform.

It also places Gram Panchayats and village institutions at the centre of implementation, treating rural water supply as a local public utility rather than a one-time infrastructure project.