NITI Aayog lays out standard definition, approach of water neutrality for Indian industries

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

NITI Aayog has laid out a standard definition and approach of water neutrality for Indian industries, saying it will help save water, lead to its efficient use and enable evaluation and validation of the water neutrality claims made by industries. According to the Aayog, henceforth water neutrality will be defined as “total freshwater consumption which is referred to as the sum total of direct freshwater use as well as estimated indirect or virtual water use as a part of water critical supply chains, applicable as on current date referred to as the date on which the evaluation is done, should either be less than or equal to all the quantifiable (and verifiable) water savings achieved through strategies undertaken as well as to be further (and futuristically) executed towards improving operational water use efficiencies, water conservation efforts”.

In its report, the Aayog has estimated that practicing the water neutrality standards could lead to a total savings of 38.23 BCM (billion cubic metre) of water over the next 10 years till 2032. As per the report, the primary aim of the water neutrality concept is to reduce demand for water but not regarding it as a replacement for existing regulatory tools.

The Aayog is of the view that while industry has been undertaking measures to improve their water usage across processes, and thereby claiming themselves as being water neutral and positive, many of the claims about being “water positive" are not independently validated and are vigorously opposed by environmental activists who contend that the concept of positive water effect lacks scientific foundation. The Aayog has argued that water neutrality/positive impact can only be assessed if water extracted, and water