Over the last 50 years, groundwater has emerged as the backbone of irrigated agriculture in India. In 2010, groundwater irrigated nearly 27 million hectares of land compared to 21 million hectares irrigated by surface water sources (Mukherji et al 2013). Groundwater usage is growing at an unprecedented rate; it is estimated that one in every four rural households owns at least one groundwater irrigation structure (Shah 2009).

Groundwater development has had manifold benefits for India’s agricultural sector. It has been credited with increasing farm incomes and well-being by increasing productivity (Roy and Shah 2002; Sekhri 2014). On the flipside, it has resulted in chronic depletion in quality and quantity of the resource (Gleeson et al 2010). Presently, groundwater irrigation is at an impasse. It has cemented its vital position in drought-proofing agriculture. However, the exploitation of the resource for irrigation has resulted in critical groundwater levels, particularly in already water-stressed regions (Kumar and Singh 2008; Livingston 2009). The number of irrigation blocks in India that have reported overexploited groundwater levels has grown at an alarming rate of nearly 5.5% per year (Gandhi and Namboodiri 2009). Increased well proliferation has led to aquifer contamination and salinisation, alongside increased costs of pumping. The problem is particularly severe in arid and semi-arid regions, where communities depend on groundwater for both domestic and agricultural purposes.