A looming crisis: How India can balance its water demand and supply across sectors? By Kangkanika Neog & Ekansha Khanduja, Whether the resurgence of the more-than-a-century-old Cauvery dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu or reports of depleting water reservoirs, fair water allocation needs attention as it is an important lever for ensuring water, food, and livelihood security. Water cannot be thought of in a silo in India, especially since it is critical to our food and energy needs. The food, land, water and energy sectors are critically interlinked, and action on one of these sectors without careful consideration of the trade-offs in the other sectors could lead to detrimental impacts. The impacts of such one-track policies during India’s Green Revolution, such as power subsidies for groundwater irrigation in Punjab and Haryana, are still visible. These states have seen severe groundwater depletion and soil subsidence. The Indian government in 2019 reported that power subsidies to the agricultural sector are in the range of Rs 80,000-91,000 crore. Minimum Support Prices (MSP) have also traditionally incentivised water-intensive crops such as rice, wheat and sugarcane. Even now, unregulated irrigation practices and indiscriminate use continue to deplete groundwater levels at an alarming rate. CEEW estimates that the cost of inaction towards improved agriculture water management could be to the tune of Rs 48 trillion in 2030 and Rs 138 trillion in 2050. We recommend three steps to improve India’s water security to strengthen its food systems in the coming decades. First, governments, especially in the states should scale up improved on-farm irrigation and water practices. Technologies and practices such as precision agriculture, including micro-irrigation and mulching, and policy reforms like water auditing and volumetric pricing are critical. Based on our analysis, if such practices are adopted, almost 20-47% of irrigation water can be saved in 2030 and 2050 respectively. India is already promoting such efficient irrigation practices through the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana’s Per Drop More Crop scheme. In fact, by 2022, 7.2 million hectares of agricultural land were brought under micro-irrigation. Last year, the G20 Leaders’ Summit committed to building more sustainable and climate-resilient agriculture and food systems by “accelerating innovations and investment”. Investments, innovations and incentives for improved irrigation and water management in agriculture will be crucial to scaling up sustainable practices. Second, food, land, water and energy policies should integrate the nexus at all stages—design, implementation, monitoring and impact evaluation. An independent body within the government could guide the planning process of schemes and policies administered by nexus-relevant ministries like the ministry of jal shakti, ministry of agriculture and farmers’ welfare, ministry of new and renewable energy, ministry of petroleum and natural gas, and ministry of power. While the need for this is critical at the national level, states could also assess their requirement based on efficiency of existing mechanisms. For instance, Odisha has already institutionalised a state department called the Planning & Convergence Department that coordinates and synergises efforts of various schemes and policies for efficiency and nexus integration. The Composite Water Management Index, developed by NITI Aayog in 2018, also acknowledges nexus linkages that measure progress not just in the water sector but also interlinkages with related sectors like food and energy. Safeguarding critical inputs of food production like land, energy and water by considering their interactions is paramount for the agriculture sustainablility and consequently food security of India. Third, scale up community-managed groundwater practices to make this critical resource sustainable. As climate change disproportionately increases the vulnerability of water, the need for a shift in attitude from consumption to conservation is crucial. This will ensure that India secures its already over-exploited groundwater resource that sustains 62% of India’s agricultural irrigation. Updated and localised datasets to keep track of the status are also crucial. India’s central scheme called Atal Bhujal Yojana is a step in this direction, whereby planning for water security and necessary data are to be collected at the gram panchayat level by the community. One of the major responsibilities of this scheme is to train the village community to develop water security plans. Such community participation in groundwater planning has shown promising results in the past and scaling it up through government schemes is a favourable step. India’s success in ensuring food security by 2030 will largely depend on its approach to managing water. Understanding water as a part of a nexus while drafting and amending policies will be key to a water and food-secure future. (The authors are programme associates at the Council on Energy, Environment and Water, CEEW)
The Japanese pharma major is also filing a plea before the Delhi HC seeking appointment of forensic auditors to analyse transactions involving IHH, Fortis Healthcare and RHT, Singapore, as directed by the HC on October 18.
The development is likely to create legal hurdles and delay the proposed open offer as IHH had recently told FE that it could only go ahead if Sebi agreed with its legal interpretation that the SC’s September 22 order has lifted all such restraints.
IHH managing director and CEO Kelvin Loh told FE on November 9 that the company would like to go ahead with the open offer “as soon as possible” as there has already been a delay of four years. Ravi Rajagopal, chairman of Fortis Healthcare, had added that their legal counsel has advised that the company can go ahead with the open offer as the SC order has disposed of various appeals, including the suo motu contempt. “We have represented to the Sebi and the matter is with them,” Rajagopal had said.
However, legal observers told FE that the matter is not that straightforward and simple as the Delhi HC has to take the final call on the matter of open offer as well as whether a forensic audit has to be done in the share sale which was executed in 2018.
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Loh and Rajagopal had said the possibility that the matter may take a different turn when it comes up in Delhi HC cannot be ruled out.
IHH had in July 2018 acquired a 31% stake in Fortis Healthcare for Rs 4,000 crore through the bidding route. It had also earmarked Rs 3,000 crore to make an open offer for an additional 26% to the public shareholders as required under the law.
Daiichi has written to Sebi that the SC in its September 22 order had asked the HC to consider ordering a forensic audit into the dilution of FHL shareholding, repeated violation of undertakings and assurance by former FHL promoters — Malvinder and Shivinder Singh — and the transaction between FHL, IHH and the clandestine transfer of Rs 4,666 crore to RHT Singapore.
Daiichi is “severely prejudiced” with IHH’s clandestine attempt to subvert the status quo order directed by the SC on December 14, 2018, and September 22 with respect to the conduct of forensic audit and the pending proceedings before the HC by purportedly consulting regulatory authorities, including Sebi, on the proposed FHL-IHH transaction. It has reiterated that the FHL-IHH transaction was currently sub-judice before the HC where FHL is also a party, its solicitors, P&A Law Offices, have said in the letter.
“We further state that any such attempt by FHL and/or IHH to proceed with the FHH-IHH transaction would be in direct contravention of the HC and SC orders,” the letter sent by the law firm has stated. Daiichi Sankyo is pursuing the enforcement of Rs 3,500-crore arbitration award against the Singh brothers pronounced by a Singapore tribunal for concealing information when they sold Ranbaxy Laboratories to it for $4.6 billion in 2008. The apex court had in 2018 put on hold the sale of Fortis Healthcare to IHH on a contempt plea filed by the Japanese drugmaker against the Singh brothers.