India-EU Water Partnership (IEWP)
A JOINT DECLARATION BY THE REPUBLIC OF INDIA AND THE EUROPEAN UNION (EU) ON AN INDIA-EU WATER PARTNERSHIP (IEWP) has been undersigned on 30 March 2016, and undersigned as a Memorandum of Understanding on 7 October 2016, with the Objective
to strengthen technological, scientific and management capabilities of India and the EU in the field of water management on the basis of equality, reciprocity and mutual benefit.
The AREAS OF COOPERATION India and the EU endeavour to encourage and promote cooperation on:
- Exchange views on regulatory approaches, including procurement, governance, best practices, business solutions and research and innovation opportunities in the water field in India and Europe, taking into account lessons learnt in the implementation of the EU’s legislation on water, in particular the Water Framework Directive, and the already ongoing exchange of information on cooperation under major river conventions, such as the Danube and the Rhine.
- Continue technical exchange on water issues, including on integrated water resource management plans within river basins, and through study visits to the EU and European experts’ missions to India.
- Jointly organise Indo-European Water Forum events at regular intervals to discuss and share views on water-related matters of common interest.
- Support the implementation of the Ganga Rejuvenation Initiative of the Indian Government, in particular through quick-win business solutions based on EU best practices, by developing a consolidated analysis, taking into account joint research activities and identifying key problems and solutions, including innovative European solutions, and by contributing to an analysis of a possible appropriate governance and legal set-up for the Ganga River Basin. The IEWP should be part and parcel of a coordinated approach by the EU and its Member States – and in coordination with other relevant players – on these and other relevant aspects of the Ganga Rejuvenation Initiative.
For more information, please approach the EU Delegation in New Delhi.
The Partnership is currently working on the following Priority Areas:
1 Sustainable development of river basins, water governance
In order to develop a pilot integrated river basin management plan for the Tapi, a first workshop is planned in February 2018 (Pune) to identify the Key Water Management Issues of the basin, and thus focus the further work. A call for the involvement of European experts was launched and 28 experts from BE, BG, DE, ES, FR, IT, NL, PT and UK expressed so far their interest. to get involved either now or at a later stage. Further work will consider previous workshops as:
- 14-15 June 2016. Workshop on River Basin Management Planning and Governance (New Delhi)
- 14-15 September 2016. Workshop on Water allocation, water economics and eflows in River Basin Management (New Delhi)
- 13-14 February 2017. Technical Exchange on River Basin Management Planning (Hyderabad)
2 Ecological flows
In order to identify the most appropriate methodologies for identifying e-flows for the different rivers in India, the development of a guidance document is planned, supported by different workshops. 15 European experts from BG, DE, EL, ES, FI, FR, NL, PT and UK have so far expressed their interest to participate in this activity.
8 “Blueprint for Water Accounting in India”
Several activities have been developed jointly with 2030 WRG, IHE Delft and OECD to improve data management on water quality, water quantity and cost recovery in India, including the development of a Blueprint backgroun document, and training which is ongoing on Water Accounting with IHE Delft, focused on the Cauvery basin. You can find more details at the following references:
- 15 February 2017. First National Workshop on "Blueprint for Water Accounting in India" (New Delhi).
- 14 March 2017 2nd Workshop - follow-up meeting in New Delhi.
- 11 April 2017, 3rd Workshop in New Delhi.
- 27 May 2017 - 4th follow-up meeting, New Delhi.
- 6 November 2017. 5th follow-up meeting, New Delhi.
9 Collaboration in Research, Innovation & Technology
A joint research and innovation action call for 30 mn EUR for drinking water, wastewater and water network management has been launched in 2017, with deadline 28 February 2018. More information is available. New INFO - Days events planned early 2018:
- 3rd Information & Networking Event on EU-India Call on Water - Guwahati, 5 January 2018.
- 4th Information & Networking Event on the EU-India Call on Water to take in Vadodara, 11 January 2018
For all other Priority Areas, preliminary meetings have been held, and more detailed activities are planned to be developed in 2018.
The public activities that are being developed in the frame of the IEWP, include:
- 23-24 November 2015. 1st Indo-European Water Forum
- 7 March 2016. EU business meeting (New Delhi).
- 21-23 April 2016. International Conference on Innovations in Sustainable Water and Wastewater Treatment Systems (ISWATS) in Pune
- 19 May 2016. Study visit of IITK and CGRBMS to Europe, including meetings at the European Commission DG ENV (Brussels)
- 14-15 June 2016. Workshop on River Basin Management Planning and Governance (New Delhi)
- 5-6 September 2016. India – EU Water Partnership workshop: Water & Industry (Delhi and Muzaffarnagar)
- 14-15 September 2016. Workshop on Water allocation, water economics and eflows in River Basin Management (New Delhi)
- 7 October 2016. 2nd India-EU Water Forum @ World Sustainable Development Summit (New Delhi)
- 13-14 February 2017. Technical Exchange on River Basin Management Planning (Hyderabad)
- Initiative Blueprint for Water accounting in India (jointly with 2030 Water Resources Group), including:
- 15 February 2017. First National Workshop on "Blueprint for Water Accounting in India" (New Delhi).
- 14 March 2017 2nd Workshop - follow-up meeting in New Delhi.
- 11 April 2017, 3rd Workshop in New Delhi.
- 27 May 2017 - 4th follow-up meeting, New Delhi.
- 6 November 2017. 5th follow-up meeting, New Delhi.
- 27-28 September 2017. EIP Water conference, with a dedicated session on India. Porto, Portugal
- 10-14 October 2017. India Water Week, including the following IEWP sessions:
- 11 October 2017. 3rd India-EU Water Forum: Jointly adapting European lessons for Indian rivers
- 11 October 2017. Technology solutions for the water-energy nexus
- 12 October 2017. Cleaning the river Ganga: From Data to Action
- 23-25 October 2017. G-STIC Global Science, Technology and Innovation Conference. Organised by VITO, with support by TERI. Brussels.
- 6-7 November 2017. WISE (World Initiative to Save Environment) 2017. Danish Water Forum. New Delhi.
- 6-7 September 2018. Circular Economy Mission. New Delhi
Further water-related activities of either the Partnership or other actors (without involving the Partnership), are the following:
- 7 November 2016. Presentational Event and Round Table Discussion to uncover business opportunities/ cooperation with German companies in the water and wastewater sector. from 01:00 p.m. to 05:30 p.m. at Radisson Blu Plaza, National Highway 8, 110037 New Delhi. trAIDe in collaboration with its Indian partner Maier + Vidorno. Find IEWP presentation attached.
- 23 November 2016: Public, Private, Community Partnerships for Domestic and Industrial Wastewater - Replicating success stories from the Hindon Basin, 2030 WRG & FICCI, FICCI Auditorium, Delhi.
- 5-6 December 2016. TERI in technical collaboration with NTPC Energy and Technological Research Alliance (NETRA) and with support from Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation is organizing a two day conference on the theme of ‘Reducing Water Footprints of Thermal Power Plants in India’ at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.
- 14 December 2016: India Industry Water Conclave and FICCI Water Awards at FICCI, New Delhi
- 18-29 January 2017: Water Innovation Lab INDIA. Engaging Young Leaders to Tackle Water Challenges in India. Mumbai, Bhuj & Udaipur.
- February 2017. Registration deadline for the Anu & Naveen Jain Women’s Safety XPRIZE
- 8-9 February 2017. WATER CHALLENGES IN INDIA-Knowledge sharing and exchange of experiences. By DHI India at Eros Hotel, New Delhi.
- 7 March 2017. Workshop "Arsenic Problems in ground water & its remediation in Ganga Basin". Central Ground Water Board Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Govt. of India
- 7 March 2017. Expanding Tradable Benefits of Trans-boundary Water: Promoting Navigational Usage of Inland Waterways in Ganga and Brahmaputra Basins. India National Reference Group Meeting. CUTS International and The Asia Foundation. New Delhi.
- March 2017. Registration deadline for the Water Abundance XPRIZE
- 24 May 2017, Planet Textiles 2017: The Sustainable Textile Summit, Bangalore
- 7 September 2017. 5th edition of FICCI Water Awards. Federation House, New Delhi
- 9-10 November 2017. 11th World Aqua Congress: Theme- Water & Environment Solutions: Cutting Across Boundaries. Subtheme - Best Practices, Technology & Solutions from World. New Delhi.
- January 2018. 9th International Micro Irrigation Conference, Aurangabad (Maharashtra state), India
- 15-17 February 2018. 2nd World Sustainable Development Summit. India Habitat Centre. New Delhi, India
