October 2026. A short monthly note on what matters for groundwater NOC holders and applicants. Rules change; we confirm the position for your site before you act.
1. New on our site
- CGWA NOC: filing, compliance and avoiding penalties: what industries, mines and infrastructure projects must file, what the NOC requires of them, and the fines for each violation.
- Free NOC renewal reminder: give us your expiry date and we remind you 90 days before.
2. Renewal deadlines
Apply for renewal at least 90 days before the NOC expires (cl. 11.0(i) of the 2020 guidelines). A renewal filed more than three months after expiry attracts environmental compensation for the lapsed period (cl. 11.0(vii)). NOCs are renewed every 3 years for industries, 2 years for mines, 5 years for drinking and domestic use, and 2 years for all users in over-exploited units (cl. 11.0(v)). If you apply in time and the authority is late, the NOC is deemed extended until renewal (cl. 11.0(vi)).
3. Does your project need an Impact Assessment Report and model?
Industries need an Impact Assessment Report with a groundwater model over 5 km when abstraction exceeds 100 m³/day in over-exploited, critical and semi-critical units, or 500 m³/day (hard rock) and 2,000 m³/day (alluvium) in safe units (cl. 4.1(f)). Any infrastructure dewatering needs one too (cl. 4.3(a)). Mines need a comprehensive report on the core and buffer zones (cl. 4.2(c)). Check your project.
4. Compliance due in the coming months
- Annual calibration of digital flow meters, and checks that telemetry is transmitting.
- Plan the yearly water quality sampling for April–May at an NABL laboratory.
- Industries above 100 m³/day: the water audit is due once every two years, submitted within three months of completion (cl. 4.1(iii)).
- Upload photographs of recharge structures before the monsoon.
- Piezometer water levels go on the portal every month.
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General guidance based on the CGWA guidelines notified on 24.09.2020 and the 29.03.2023 amendment. Some states regulate groundwater through their own authority.