Groundwater Classification in Uttar Pradesh: Safe, Semi-Critical, Critical and Over-Exploited Areas

Groundwater conditions in Uttar Pradesh cannot be described with one statewide label.

An industrial project in Uttar Pradesh may be located in a groundwater assessment unit classified as:

Safe

Semi-Critical

Critical

or

Over-Exploited.

Under the latest Ground Water Resource Assessment 2025, Uttar Pradesh has 836 assessed groundwater units. Of these, 563 are Safe, 171 Semi-Critical, 48 Critical and 54 Over-Exploited.

That makes groundwater classification a meaningful industrial planning issue.

A manufacturer considering a project in Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad, Agra, Aligarh, Kanpur, Lucknow, Unnao, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar or another Uttar Pradesh industrial cluster should not simply ask:

“Is groundwater available in Uttar Pradesh?”

The correct question is:

What is the latest groundwater classification of the assessment unit containing our exact project site, and what does that mean under the applicable Uttar Pradesh groundwater regulatory framework?

Uttar Pradesh Groundwater Classification Under GWRA 2025

The latest official State/UT-wise categorisation provides the following picture for Uttar Pradesh.

Classification	Assessment Units	Approx. Share
Safe	563	67.34%
Semi-Critical	171	20.45%
Critical	48	5.74%
Over-Exploited	54	6.46%
Total	836	100%

Approximately two-thirds of the assessed units are Safe, while almost one-third are Semi-Critical, Critical or Over-Exploited.

This is important because a State-level average can hide significant local groundwater stress.

Two factories operating within Uttar Pradesh—and sometimes even within the same broad district region—can face very different groundwater-resource conditions.

What Does a Groundwater Assessment Unit Mean?

CGWB performs groundwater-resource assessment at defined assessment-unit level rather than treating an entire State as one groundwater system.

Assessment units are generally administrative units such as blocks, talukas, tehsils, mandals or similar units depending on the State. CGWB states that dynamic groundwater-resource assessment is undertaken jointly with State/UT agencies and categorises assessment units based on the relationship between groundwater extraction and extractable resource.

For Uttar Pradesh, this distinction is essential.

An industry should therefore identify:

Project coordinates / address

→ District

→ Relevant block or assessment unit

→ Latest GWRA category

before drawing conclusions about groundwater availability.

What Does Safe Mean in Uttar Pradesh?

A Safe groundwater assessment unit has comparatively lower groundwater-development pressure under the national resource-assessment framework.

But Safe does not mean unrestricted groundwater abstraction.

The Uttar Pradesh Ground Water Department operates its groundwater regulatory portal under the Uttar Pradesh Ground Water Management & Regulation Act, 2019. Commercial, industrial, infrastructural and bulk groundwater users are specifically covered by the State's NOC and well-registration system.

Therefore, an industrial project in a Safe block should still determine:

• whether a groundwater NOC is required;

• whether the well is existing or proposed;

• groundwater quantity required;

• purpose of abstraction;

• State regulatory conditions;

• wastewater-treatment arrangements;

• rainwater-harvesting obligations; and

• registration requirements.

Groundwater category tells the industry about resource stress.

It does not itself serve as the NOC.

What Does Semi-Critical Mean in Uttar Pradesh?

GWRA-2025 identifies 171 Semi-Critical assessment units in Uttar Pradesh, equivalent to approximately 20.45% of the State's total assessed units.

Semi-Critical conditions should be treated as an early warning for groundwater-dependent industries.

A plant may be able to meet its present water requirement but still face future problems if:

• production expands;

• another manufacturing line is installed;

• workforce increases;

• cooling load increases;

• boiler capacity rises;

• groundwater abstraction progressively increases.

For a project in a Semi-Critical area, SARK would recommend assessing not merely current water demand but the future groundwater dependency of the complete project.

What Does Critical Mean in Uttar Pradesh?

GWRA-2025 identifies 48 Critical groundwater assessment units in Uttar Pradesh.

The word Critical has additional regulatory significance in Uttar Pradesh.

The official UP Ground Water Department portal defines Notified Areas to include:

• Over-Exploited blocks;

• Critical blocks; and

• Stressed Urban Areas.

The portal states that, for commercial, industrial, infrastructural and bulk groundwater users, a proposed well is not allowed in Notified Blocks, while the treatment of existing wells follows the State's applicable NOC/registration process.

That is a much more important commercial implication than simply saying that a block has “high groundwater stress.”

For an industry considering a new facility, the groundwater category can therefore influence whether a proposed borewell can form part of the project water strategy at all.

What Does Over-Exploited Mean in Uttar Pradesh?

GWRA-2025 lists 54 Over-Exploited assessment units in Uttar Pradesh, representing approximately 6.46% of the assessed units.

Over-Exploited means the level of annual groundwater extraction exceeds the assessed annual extractable groundwater resource under the groundwater-resource methodology.

Under the Uttar Pradesh regulatory portal, Over-Exploited blocks form part of the State's Notified Areas. For commercial, industrial, infrastructural and bulk users, the portal states that proposed wells are not permitted in notified blocks.

This distinction is especially important when evaluating a new industrial project.

A land parcel may appear commercially attractive because it has:

• highway access;

• affordable land;

• nearby labour;

• electrical infrastructure;

• industrial connectivity.

But if the project depends heavily on a new groundwater source in a notified groundwater area, the water strategy may require fundamental redesign.

Uttar Pradesh Uses an Important Additional Concept: Notified Areas

Industrial decision-makers should not confuse groundwater-resource classification with State regulatory notification.

The official Uttar Pradesh Ground Water Department portal defines Notified Areas as:

Over-Exploited Blocks, Critical Blocks and Stressed Urban Areas in terms of groundwater.

Areas other than notified areas are described as Non-Notified Areas.

This creates an important practical distinction:

Groundwater classification

describes the groundwater-resource condition.

Notified-area status

has a direct regulatory implication under Uttar Pradesh's groundwater framework.

An industrial project should therefore verify both.

Can an Industry Install a New Borewell in a Notified Area of Uttar Pradesh?

According to the official UP Ground Water Department portal, for commercial, industrial, infrastructural and bulk users:

Proposed wells are not allowed in Notified Blocks.

The same portal identifies Over-Exploited blocks, Critical blocks and Stressed Urban Areas as notified areas.

This is one of the most important points for an industrial land buyer to establish before purchasing a site.

It is not enough for somebody to say:

“There are already borewells in nearby factories.”

Nearby historic groundwater use does not establish that a new proposed industrial well will be permissible today.

The project should verify its own regulatory position.

What About an Existing Industrial Borewell?

Existing groundwater users need to be analysed differently from proposed new wells.

The Uttar Pradesh portal distinguishes between proposed and existing wells and provides separate NOC/registration pathways for commercial, industrial, infrastructural and bulk users. It also states that registration of wells is available to users holding the applicable authorisation/NOC.

An existing industry should review:

• current NOC;

• validity;

• registered borewells;

• permitted abstraction;

• actual abstraction;

• water meters;

• existing production;

• expansion plans;

• rainwater-harvesting infrastructure;

• wastewater treatment; and

• groundwater monitoring where applicable.

An existing borewell should not automatically be treated as an unlimited future water source.

Why Uttar Pradesh Industries Should Check Groundwater Before Buying Land

Groundwater due diligence is particularly important when the proposed industry has substantial requirements for:

• process water;

• cooling towers;

• boilers;

• washing;

• utilities;

• workforce;

• landscaping.

Consider two potential industrial plots.

Site A

Excellent road connectivity but located in a groundwater-notified area with limited alternative water supply.

Site B

Slightly higher land cost but with viable industrial water supply, wastewater reuse potential and a more favourable groundwater position.

Site B may ultimately be the lower-risk industrial investment.

Groundwater classification should therefore enter technical due diligence before land acquisition, not after the factory has been designed.

Why a District Name Is Not Enough

One of the most common errors in online groundwater searches is looking only at district names.

A search such as:

“Is Agra Over-Exploited?”

or:

“Is Ghaziabad a Critical groundwater area?”

may not produce a sufficiently precise answer for an industrial project.

Groundwater-resource assessment is done at assessment-unit level.

Therefore, the project should determine the relevant block/urban assessment unit rather than apply one district-wide label.

This is also why SARK will progressively publish separate groundwater intelligence guides for major Uttar Pradesh industrial clusters rather than claiming that every location within a district has identical status.

Uttar Pradesh Groundwater Status Has Changed Over Time

Groundwater classification is dynamic.

For context, Uttar Pradesh's 2020 groundwater-resource assessment had 66 Over-Exploited assessment units. The current GWRA-2025 State categorisation lists 54 Over-Exploited units.

That comparison illustrates an important SEO and project-planning lesson:

Do not rely on old lists of Over-Exploited blocks found on websites or in historical consultant reports.

CGWB has moved to annual resource assessment since 2022, making current classification increasingly important for regulatory and investment decisions.

Groundwater Classification and Industrial Expansion

Groundwater should be rechecked when an existing Uttar Pradesh factory expands.

Suppose a factory originally consumes:

80 KLD groundwater

and proposes a production expansion that would increase total plant water demand to:

140 KLD.

The wrong approach is:

Existing borewell + larger pump = 140 KLD.

The better approach is:

Existing permitted abstraction

vs

actual groundwater abstraction

vs

post-expansion water demand

followed by analysis of:

• process-water savings;

• cooling optimisation;

• condensate recovery;

• treated ETP reuse;

• STP reuse;

• rainwater;

• alternative external supply.

This is particularly important where the assessment unit has become more stressed since the original plant approval.

The UP Groundwater Application Also Looks Beyond the Borewell

The Uttar Pradesh groundwater application process for commercial and industrial users requires more than simply specifying the proposed well.

The State's application documentation asks for information relating to:

• well type and construction;

• groundwater usage;

• wastewater/effluent treatment;

• UPPCB NOC where applicable;

• rainwater-harvesting structures and capacity; and

• other project information.

That makes a technically credible plant water balance and environmental-compliance position increasingly relevant.

Rainwater Harvesting Is Part of the Uttar Pradesh Groundwater Framework

The official Uttar Pradesh groundwater portal includes dedicated rainwater-harvesting resources and asks industrial applicants about rainwater-harvesting structures and their capacities.

For industries, RWH should not simply mean constructing a recharge pit because a drawing says one is required.

A proper industrial RWH assessment should evaluate:

• roof catchment;

• paved catchment;

• local rainfall;

• runoff coefficient;

• stormwater quality;

• first flush;

• storage potential;

• recharge feasibility;

• soil;

• hydrogeology;

• flooding;

• overflow management.

Groundwater conservation is most effective when incorporated into the site's overall water architecture.

Groundwater Quality Also Matters

Groundwater quantity is only half the question.

An industrial project may have apparently adequate groundwater quantity but unsuitable quality.

The latest CGWB groundwater-quality information for Uttar Pradesh identifies groundwater-quality concerns across parts of the State involving parameters such as nitrate, fluoride, arsenic and uranium.

For industries, groundwater quality can affect:

• RO recovery;

• boiler feed treatment;

• cooling cycles;

• process quality;

• membrane fouling;

• chemical consumption;

• sludge/reject generation;

• treatment CAPEX.

Therefore:

groundwater availability ≠ usable industrial water availability.

Both quantity and quality should be investigated.

What Should an Industry Check for a Uttar Pradesh Project?

Before relying on groundwater, prepare a structured review.

1. Identify the exact site

Use correct district, block/assessment unit and site coordinates.

2. Check GWRA-2025 classification

Determine whether the relevant assessment unit is Safe, Semi-Critical, Critical or Over-Exploited. CGWB's official repository includes Dynamic Ground Water Resources of Uttar Pradesh, 2025.

3. Check notified-area status

Critical, Over-Exploited and Stressed Urban Areas can carry important consequences under the Uttar Pradesh regulatory system.

4. Determine existing vs proposed well status

The regulatory position differs materially.

5. Calculate realistic freshwater demand

Do not equate total water circulation with groundwater requirement.

6. Identify alternative water

Municipal, industrial, recycled and other authorised supplies should be examined.

7. Assess ETP/STP reuse

Determine which treated streams can replace freshwater.

8. Evaluate RWH

Integrate rainfall with storage, recharge and stormwater design.

9. Assess future expansion

A water system designed only for present production can become tomorrow's bottleneck.

Groundwater Classification Should Influence Industrial Site Selection

For a manufacturing project, site selection commonly considers:

land + logistics + labour + power + environmental approvals

Groundwater intelligence adds another dimension:

water-resource security.

For highly water-dependent sectors—paper, textiles, food, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, metal processing, large engineering operations and major utility-intensive plants—the ability to secure a sustainable water architecture can materially influence project economics.

A groundwater-constrained location is not necessarily an impossible industrial location.

It may simply require:

• lower water demand;

• better recycling;

• alternative supply;

• higher CAPEX;

• treated sewage;

• rainwater storage;

• different process technology.

But those costs should be known before the investment decision.

What If the Project Is in a Critical or Over-Exploited UP Block?

For a proposed new industrial well, the first task is to verify whether the location falls within the State's notified-area framework.

The official Uttar Pradesh portal states that proposed commercial/industrial/infrastructural/bulk-user wells are not allowed in notified blocks.

The engineering response should then shift from:

“How do we drill the borewell?”

to:

“How do we redesign the project water architecture?”

Potential options include:

• reduce freshwater consumption;

• reuse treated ETP water;

• reuse treated STP water;

• optimise cooling towers;

• recover condensate;

• increase process-water recycling;

• capture rainwater;

• obtain industrial/municipal water;

• evaluate treated municipal sewage;

• review project location if necessary.

The objective is to reduce groundwater from an assumed dependency to one component of a diversified water strategy.

How SARK Engineers & Consultants Supports Uttar Pradesh Projects

SARK approaches groundwater as an engineering and project-feasibility issue rather than only a filing exercise.

Support can include:

Groundwater Classification Review

Identification of current assessment-unit classification and its project implications.

Groundwater Regulatory Screening

Review of new/existing project status, proposed abstraction, State regulatory pathway and notified-area considerations.

Industrial Water Balance

Determining actual freshwater requirement after reuse and recovery.

Groundwater Impact Assessment

Hydrogeological assessment where required or appropriate.

Industrial Water Audit

Identification of process and utility opportunities to reduce groundwater dependence.

Rainwater Harvesting Design

Catchment, collection, storage/recharge, stormwater and overflow assessment.

Wastewater Reuse

ETP/STP treatment and fit-for-purpose reuse planning.

Industrial Project Due Diligence

Integration of groundwater risk into land purchase, expansion and CAPEX decisions.

For the broader methodology, use SARK's Groundwater Regulatory Intelligence for Industries in India hub.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many groundwater assessment units are there in Uttar Pradesh in GWRA 2025?

GWRA-2025 lists 836 assessment units in Uttar Pradesh.

How many Safe groundwater units are there in Uttar Pradesh?

There are 563 Safe assessment units, approximately 67.34% of the State total.

How many Semi-Critical groundwater units are there in Uttar Pradesh?

There are 171 Semi-Critical assessment units, approximately 20.45%.

How many Critical groundwater units are there in Uttar Pradesh?

GWRA-2025 lists 48 Critical assessment units.

How many Over-Exploited groundwater units are there in Uttar Pradesh?

GWRA-2025 lists 54 Over-Exploited assessment units in Uttar Pradesh.

Are new industrial borewells allowed in Critical or Over-Exploited UP blocks?

The Uttar Pradesh Ground Water Department identifies Critical and Over-Exploited blocks as notified areas and states that proposed wells for commercial, industrial, infrastructural and bulk users are not allowed in notified blocks. Project-specific status should nevertheless be checked against the current State framework before investment.

Does a Safe block mean an industrial borewell is automatically allowed?

No. Safe is a groundwater-resource classification. NOC, well registration and other applicable State requirements must still be checked.

Can groundwater classification change?

Yes. CGWB periodically reassesses groundwater resources, and since 2022 the resource assessment has been conducted annually.

Data and Regulatory Note

Information reviewed: 11 August 2026

This article uses the latest available GWRA-2025 State categorisation. CGWB's repository lists Dynamic Ground Water Resources of Uttar Pradesh, 2025, published in May 2026.

Groundwater classification and regulatory status should always be verified for the exact project assessment unit before land acquisition, borewell construction, expansion or regulatory submission.