Bengaluru/New Delhi: The Union Water Resources Ministry has chosen Karnataka and six other states for the World Bank-aided National Groundwater Management Improvement Scheme (NGMIS) on a pilot basis.

The seven states identified for the project namely Karnataka, Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh represent 25% of the overexploited blocks in the country causing the groundwater table to drop alarmingly.

It is gathered that the cost of the entire project is estimated at around Rs 6,000 crore and will be implemented over a span of six years.

According to the ministry, in India, 245 billion cubic metres of goundwater is drawn every year. This represents about 25% of the total global groundwater drawn. With nearly 80% of rural and urban domestic water supplies in India depending on groundwater, the government is working on its better management for socioeconomic development.

As part of its efforts to rejuvenate water sources, the ministry has already started mapping ground water where there is highest exploitation. The mapping also helps understand sustainability of drawing groundwater and its contamination.