Key Details
The parliamentary committee’s review examines whether sewerage and septage investments under AMRUT and AMRUT 2.0 are producing functional household connections, effective treatment and safe disposal — not merely creating infrastructure.
Area | What the Report Finds |
|---|---|
AMRUT 2.0 Progress | Only 104 of 594 sewerage and septage projects — 17.51% — had been completed. Another 398 were under implementation and 38 remained at the tender stage. |
Treatment Capacity | Of 6,815.03 MLD of sewage-treatment capacity approved under AMRUT 2.0, only 658.07 MLD had become operational. |
Household Connections | Against an identified requirement of 409 lakh connections, projects covered approximately 211 lakh; around 192 lakh connections had been provided or rehabilitated. |
Plant Performance | An assessment across 485 cities found that around 51% of sewage treatment plants met the 2015 discharge standards and only 15% met the more stringent 2019 standards. |
Wastewater Estimates | MoHUA estimated urban sewage generation at approximately 52,644 MLD, while the 2022 NITI Aayog study cited in the report estimated 72,368 MLD, exposing the absence of a harmonised national assessment. |
On-Site Sanitation | Around 42% of urban households continue to depend on septic tanks and other non-sewered systems, making regular desludging and faecal-sludge treatment essential. |
Treated Water Reuse | Approximately 6,012.56 MLD of treated wastewater is being reused. AMRUT 2.0 aims to create 10,000 MLD of reuse capacity by 2030, but only 11 States had notified reuse policies. |
Monitoring Gaps | Centralised data are unavailable for several indicators, including septic-tank compliance, scheduled desludging, functional treatment plants, mechanised cleaning and household-level connectivity. |
Mission Timeline | AMRUT 2.0 has been extended until 31 March 2027, increasing the urgency of completing delayed projects and operationalising sanctioned capacity. |
Infrastructure Expansion Has Not Yet Produced Universal Coverage
The Standing Committee on Housing and Urban Affairs, in its report Review of Sewerage and Septage Coverage in Cities with Special Reference to Interventions under AMRUT & AMRUT 2.0, assesses the entire urban sanitation chain—from containment and collection to treatment, reuse and safe disposal.
While AMRUT has significantly expanded sewer networks, household connections and sewage-treatment capacity, the Committee finds that implementation remains well below identified requirements. Progress under AMRUT 2.0 is particularly slow, with only 17.5% of approved sewerage and septage projects completed and less than 10% of approved treatment capacity operational. It attributes delays to land acquisition, tendering, statutory clearances, contractor performance, integration with existing infrastructure and limited Urban Local Body (ULB) capacity.
Treatment Performance and Data Remain Major Weaknesses
The Committee distinguishes between installed treatment capacity and wastewater that is actually collected and treated. Despite substantial investment, actual treatment remains significantly below installed capacity, while compliance with prescribed discharge standards is low.
It calls for third-party audits, real-time monitoring, plant-level public disclosure and a national digital sanitation information system supported by annual wastewater balance sheets, outcome-based monitoring and regular reporting on underperforming facilities.
On-Site Sanitation Requires a Complete Service Chain
The report stresses that universal sanitation cannot be achieved through sewer networks alone. Around 42% of urban households continue to rely on septic tanks and other on-site sanitation systems, yet design standards, desludging practices and treatment arrangements remain weak.
The Committee recommends standardised septic-tank construction, scheduled desludging, GPS tracking of desludging vehicles, authorised disposal and treatment facilities, and GIS-based sanitation planning, particularly for peri-urban areas, slums and migrant settlements.
The Committee Calls for an Outcome-Based Sanitation System
The Committee's 15 recommendations move beyond completing infrastructure towards an outcome-based sanitation system in which assets are maintained, treatment quality is verified and the entire sanitation chain is measurable.
Beyond faster project completion, it recommends:
a possible Urban Infrastructure Maintenance Fund to support long-term asset upkeep;
common treatment-quality and monitoring standards across sanitation programmes;
wider reuse of treated wastewater through supporting infrastructure and bulk-user agreements;
development of resource-recovery markets for energy, nutrients and other materials from sludge; and
complete mechanisation of sewer and septic-tank cleaning, backed by stronger worker safety, insurance, social security and enforcement.
What Is Septage Management?
Septage is the accumulated liquid and solid waste removed from septic tanks. Septage management covers its scheduled removal, transportation in registered vehicles, treatment at a faecal-sludge facility or sewage treatment plant, and safe reuse or disposal. A properly constructed septic tank does not provide safe sanitation if its contents are later discharged untreated.
Policy Relevance
Physical completion is an incomplete measure of sanitation performance: Sewer networks and treatment plants produce public-health benefits only when households are connected, wastewater reaches the plants and the facilities consistently meet discharge standards.
AMRUT 2.0 faces a delivery challenge before its extended deadline: The low share of completed projects and operational treatment capacity makes project sequencing, milestone monitoring and resolution of implementation barriers central to the Mission’s remaining period.
A large non-sewered population requires permanent septage services: Septic tanks cannot be treated as temporary substitutes for sewer connections; they require regulated construction, scheduled emptying, tracked transportation and assured treatment.
Conflicting estimates weaken infrastructure planning: A harmonised wastewater balance is necessary to determine actual treatment deficits, prioritise investments and compare outcomes across cities.
Treatment compliance matters as much as installed capacity: Low compliance with discharge standards indicates that financing new plants without strengthening operations, maintenance and technical capacity may reproduce existing performance problems.
Urban Local Bodies remain the critical implementation institution: Their staffing, technical expertise and maintenance funding determine whether centrally supported infrastructure continues to function after construction.
Worker safety is integral to sanitation reform: Mechanised cleaning and enforceable occupational protections are necessary for infrastructure expansion to comply with the prohibition on hazardous manual sewer and septic-tank cleaning.
Follow The Full Report Here: Standing Committee Report on Sewerage and Septage Coverage Under AMRUT and AMRUT 2.0