Why clean, affordable water will build developed India

Expanding tap-water access must be accompanied by efforts to ensure that supplies remain safe throughout the year, said Mahesh Gupta, founder and managing director of Kent RO.He highlighted water contamination and affordability as major challenges for households. In a fireside chat at the Ide - as for India Summit 2026, Gupta said the govt’s responsibility extended beyond providing connections to maintaining drinking-water quality.Asked about the Har Ghar Jal initiative, he said he expected public systems to deliver safe water but questioned their ability to do so consistently on such a large scale. When asked whether gaps in access created a business opportunity for purifier manufacturers, he suggested that such a need might not exist if the govt could ensure adequate access to safe water.“But the magnitude of the situation is so large that I don’t think govt alone can take it on,” he added. Gupta argued that water treatment faced new challenges as contaminants entered supplies.He highlighted microplastics, citing fibres released during clothes washing as one route through which plastics enter water. “Fresh issues keep coming into the contamination of water.The new issue that has emerged in the last few years is microplastics in drinking water,” he said. He also addressed whether household purification remained beyond the means of many Indians.Gupta cited Kent’s Rs 1,400 water filter as an affordable offering, while acknowledging that even this price could be high for many people. This highlighted the gap between offering a lower-priced product and making water treatment accessible to households with limited budgets. Gupta also raised concerns about reliance on groundwater, saying extraction was reaching greater depths, and argued that contamination required sustained attention.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.