“The JJM will be instrumental in the scaling of technology and smart water solutions in India"

In recent years, Royan has transitioned to focus on sustainability and the circular economy: key aspects around the risks and resilience of cities and industries in the context of water, waste management and air quality, developing a “6P Framework” that encompasses policies, products, processes, people/personas, partnerships, and platforms. Appointed Chair of the Advisory Council of the SWAN Forum last month, we delved into his expertise in this interview to explore the Jal Jeevan Mission and what it means for smart water growth opportunities in India.

In 2019, the Indian government launched the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), an initiative to provide household tap water to every rural household in the country. What is the significance of this programme?

The Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) is a truly unique programme not just for India but possibly globally – both on the scale of its scope and coverage as well as its data-driven approach to tackle the key issue of universal access to drinking water services for rural populations. Launched in 2019, the JJM had an overall capital outlay of about $48 billion and set out one goal – Har Ghar Jal – Water for every home – by 2024. This was to provide a functional household tap connection (FHTC) for every rural household in the about 600,000 villages with a cumulative population of close to 900 million and meet one of the key elements of Sustainability Development Goal (SDG) 6.

It does in a way resonate with our 6P Framework for the Future of the ESG, Sustainability & Circular Economy, as the policy specified the key requirement in terms of water quantity of 55 litres per capita per day (lpcd) and specified the water quality standards – BIS:10500. This laid the guidelines for specific products such as water quantity and quality measurement sensors as well as water sampling kits and supporting infrastructure and services.

This was to ensure the products were helpful in monitoring the key processes of water supply and water quality delivered to the FHTC’s. Another key element of the programme has been the focus on people/personas, where there has been a great deal of focus on training and upskilling of the local community and key stakeholders – especially women in the community – to participate in conceptualising, delivering, and managing the processes. This has also involved a great deal of partners coming together and forming an ecosystem to contribute their expertise to each element of the project. There is the Tata Trusts, involved in the initial pilots and building up the use cases; and the ministries – the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) even launched campaigns and competitions encouraging local start-ups to develop and pilot their water quality and quantity monitoring solutions.

Lastly, the JJM – being very data-driven as a policy – is also providing a platform or a dashboard with the details in terms of the progress of the programme across the rural households as well as data on water quantity and quality served at the local level. This delivers on key aspects of transparency as well as accountability and is set to even support in benchmarking of water services at the local level, so communities can learn from the successes and best practices established and maintained in the leading villages.

Can you comment on the current landscape of smart water opportunities in India, especially considering initiatives like the Jal Jeevan mission?

As per the latest data published on the JJM India portal – out of the total 192.79 million rural households in India – the FHTC coverage has increased from 32.362 million households (16.79%) in 2019 to 144.448 million households (74.92%) in 2024.

With the physical infrastructure in place, we are beginning to see tenders covering a range of products and services from the integration of IoT platforms and services to the supply and installation of water quality and quantity monitoring solutions. One of the most significant contracts we have witnessed in recent months is by Ceinsys Tech based in Mumbai; they have been appointed by the Water Supply and Sanitation Department of the Govt of Maharashtra and secured a contract estimated to be about $26 million for the design and deployment of an IoT platform for the JJM projects in the state. With water being a subject governed by state governments – there will be similar opportunities as the JJM programme matures in the various states across India. One of the recent projects in the state of Karnataka delivered by RefillBot was a remote monitoring IoT platform to measure the water quality and quantity of services across 100 villages and included the operation and maintenance services as part of the contract. There have also been a few successful use cases involving the deployment of platforms from the individual states to the national dashboard. DropbyDrop is a start-up based in Mumbai and is playing a pioneering role in democratising and making smart water solutions accessible. It has taken a leadership role in this segment and supported villages in Haryana, Rajasthan and Manipur to connect the data on water flow, pressure and water quality sensors to the national dashboard. Another exciting use case is for billing - the DropbyDrop IoT platform has been deployed in Chandhare (Alibaug), Raigad District of Maharashtra. The IoT platform now enables the local panchayat (administrative body) to automatically generate monthly water bills and in the local language.

The growth opportunities for smart water as part of JJM will also include contracts for the design and deployment of IoT platforms as well as DaaS (Data as a Service) or/and WaaS (Water as a Service).

In addition to the JJM, one of the most significant developments has been the launch of the updated Manual on Water Supply and Treatment Systems (Drink from Tap) published by the Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation (CPHEEO) on behalf of the Govt. of India’s Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA). This manual is set to have a significant impact on another water infrastructure programme called AMRUT 2.0, focussed on 4800 cities, with an overall goal to provide 24/7 water services. We expect to see a significantly increased investment in smart water solutions for deployment across the cities.

With the physical infrastructure in place, we are seeing tenders covering from IoT platforms to water quality and quantity monitoring

Water balance and audits, NRW management and hydraulic modelling are also emerging as use cases of smart water solutions and services in India. One of the leading start-ups that is strengthening a portfolio of projects on these topics in India is Vassar Labs. Established in 2014, in less than 10 years it has already worked on smart water projects in the states of Andhra, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

Smart water metering is another growth opportunity we will see growing in the coming years as we expect to see large cities such as Mumbai and Chennai set to have smart water meter rollouts; they will start with the commercial and industrial users and are expected to be later expanded to all residential consumers. Smart water metering opportunities in India will also be boosted by the specifications laid out in the recent manual published by CPHEEO, with a strong focus on standards for smart water meters. The upcoming tenders will also be focussing on the financial viability of the smart water metering projects and ensuring key outcomes and service line agreements (SLAs) are in place.

Lastly, we will also see growth in digital twins in the water sector in India. Vassar Labs already has a strong use case of a Digital Twin for Urban Water Management, with its aqauWISE platform deployed in a project covering over 121 urban local bodies and 35,000 miles of distribution network, supplying 5650 MLD. Another use case of a digital twin in India is by Bentley Systems with its partner Geoinfo Services, for the city of Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh. The OpenFlows solutions of Bentley have helped the city save $1.5 million in annual operating costs and avoid 347 tonnes of carbon emissions.

From your perspective, what role can technology play in optimizing water resource management under the Jal Jeevan mission?

The JJM has been instrumental in driving the use of technology and smart water solutions, with a metric-driven approach of 55 lpcd and with a focus on processes and standards: the key has been the involvement of the people.

There are three strong benefits concerning technology solutions in water resource management under the Jal Jeevan Mission. Firstly, it has provided an opportunity for local start-ups such as DropbyDrop, Vassar Labs, RefillBot/BharatPi, Kristnam Technologies, Smart Terra, Fluid Analytics, Digital Paani, Earthfokus, FluxGen Technologies, INDRA, Openwater, Boson Whitewater and KarIoT to build on the specifications of the policies as they develop products and business models to support in the transition of water resource management in the rural areas. The successful track record of the start-ups is helping them to scale up in India, as well as to embark on serving overseas markets with their innovative smart water solutions.

Secondly, the focus on the people of the JJM has been key in ensuring that communities and the grassroots have been engaged and now understand these technologies and are taking on the responsibility of managing local water services. This will enhance the productivity of the individuals involved in water services, and enhance the overall economic productivity of rural areas, resulting in the delivery of an adequate and safe water supply to households.

How do you assess the readiness of Indian water service providers to adopt and integrate smart water solutions?

The building blocks for smart water solutions in India have been set, especially with the launch of the updated CPHEEO manual on Water Supply and Treatment (Drink from Tap) and the focus on technologies that can drive efficiency and resilience of water services.

One of the key elements for the integration of smart water solutions in water services will be to ensure that there is a 24/7 water supply and also water tariffs that are able to support the investment in technology solutions to improve efficiency.

For the upcoming smart water metering rollouts in Mumbai and Chennai, we have seen the cities engaging consultants to conduct a techno-commercial due diligence of the projects. The results and recommendations of these reports will also shape the specifications in the upcoming tenders for smart water metering in the two cities. There needs to be a greater focus on standards for the technology solutions to ensure they are fit for purpose and deliver on the outcomes for the duration of the contracts. There needs to also be a focus on innovative business models such as Data-as-a-Service (DaaS), Water-as-a-Service (WaaS) and Metering-as-a-Service (MaaS) and how these can be structured with financial support and associated service line agreements (SLAs) that can attract private participation, funding and operation of the water services under these business models.

Are there any notable success stories or case studies of smart water implementation in India that you believe can serve as models for future initiatives?

The smart water ecosystem in India can become the testbed for cost-effective and scalable smart water solutions for emerging markets as well as developed markets. The water services market in India provides scale for the financial viability of some of the digital solutions, although in some cases significant subsidies in water tariffs become a key bottleneck. Some of the success stories and case studies we have witnessed highlight the need for a Digital LITe (Less Intensive Tech) version of smart water solutions – sensors, smart water meters and digital twins - especially in highly price-sensitive/low water tariff regions.

Some of the success stories we have witnessed highlight a need for a Digital LITe (Less Intensive Tech) version of smart water solutions

We have also seen the success stories of DropbyDrop that has not only deployed its IoT solution in India, but has also deployed its platform in emerging markets of Central Asia and Southeast Asia, with a strong partnership with leading smart water utilities such as K-Water from South Korea. Vassar Labs is another excellent success story having already deployed their projects in 3 states across India, which includes one of the first digital twin projects for water in India; and now they are also embarking on a project in Saudi Arabia.

As I mentioned at the beginning, with a focus on a 6P Framework that includes policies through to platforms, the JJM and its related metric-driven approach of 55 lpcd, with the national level dashboard on water quality and quantity monitoring – when completed – would be the largest smart water grid platform in the world.