Overview
- A national workshop on R&D in water on Monday launched MAHA on Water, opened an ANRF joint research call and formalised a memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Jal Shakti and ISRO.
- MAHA on Water is a mission‑driven programme backed by ANRF that invites multi‑institution consortium proposals and has reported per‑project support levels of up to ₹20 crore alongside a separate ANRF funding window for startups reportedly totalling around ₹200 crore.
- The Jal Shakti–ISRO MoU identifies 24 satellite‑enabled priority research areas, including reservoir monitoring, water‑spread assessment, river‑flow analysis, satellite water‑quality checks and mapping of macroplastics for monitoring and forecasting.
- The ministry launched phase three of the Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari campaign and the JSJB:Catch the Rain portal with a target to create two crore water‑conservation structures between June 2026 and May 2027 and to let districts document and verify works.
- The Centre has begun signing reform‑linked implementation MoUs under Jal Jeevan Mission 2.0 with states such as Arunachal Pradesh and Jharkhand and signed an extension pact with Tamil Nadu that includes an initial central release of ₹2,177.27 crore.