Revitalizing the Ganges: Unprecedented Growth in Sewage Treatment

The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) reported a ten-fold growth in operational sewage treatment across the Ganga basin over seven years. From 2018’s 351 MLD capacity to 2024-25’s 3,805 MLD, this reflects unprecedented infrastructure progress in India's water sector, backed by a hybrid annuity financing model.

The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) announced a remarkable increase in sewage treatment capacity along the Ganga basin, soaring from 351 million liters per day (MLD) in 2018 to 3,805 MLD projected for 2024-25. This tenfold expansion underscores an unprecedented scale of infrastructure enhancement in India's water management sector.

The mission, through its Namami Gange program, emphasized the credibility of this 10x growth, stating it as a testament to the substantial infrastructure development achieved under the river rejuvenation initiative. Currently, 6,219 MLD of capacity has received approval across 231 projects, reflecting 76% of the total target of 8,220 MLD.

Financing for this enormous undertaking involves a USD 1.1 billion hybrid annuity model-public private partnership (HAM-PPP), with 60% derived from private capital. The performance-based contracting ensures accountability, with operators remunerated only for effective plant operations. Furthermore, NMCG promotes transparency with its 'Gangapulse' platform for publicly accessible sewage plant data verification.