India's central government has approved ₹11,785 crore of sewage treatment plant (STP) projects for small cities under Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0, adding 4,900 million litres per day (MLD) of new treatment capacity, the Press Information Bureau reported on 30 September 2026 (PIB). The package is the latest step in the mission's Used Water Management push, which reframes municipal sewage as a reusable resource rather than a disposal problem.
Key takeaways
- ₹11,785 crore of STP projects have been approved for small cities under SBM-U 2.0 (PIB).
- The approved pipeline adds 4,900 MLD of municipal sewage treatment capacity across small cities (PIB).
- Jaipur's Dehlawas STP, built over 22.50 hectares in 2020–23, holds Rajasthan's highest STP capacity at 215 MLD and runs on Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR) technology with full SCADA automation (PIB).
- Indore became India's first Water+ certified city, combining 3 centralised and 7 decentralised STPs with more than 200 km of reuse piping (PIB).
- Surat, Jaipur, Indore and Navi Mumbai are cited as operational models routing treated water to horticulture, industry, road washing and lake recharge (PIB).
What was announced
The Press Information Bureau feature, published 30 September 2026, frames Used Water Management (UWM) as the centrepiece of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban, built around three certification and planning instruments: Water Plus certification, ODF++ protocols for faecal sludge and septage, and city-level reuse plans prepared by Urban Local Bodies (PIB). Under SBM 2.0, projects worth ₹11,785 crore have been approved for STPs in small cities, with a combined 4,900 MLD of new capacity (PIB). The PIB write-up notes that "with the right systems, used water can be collected, treated, recycled and returned to productive use" (PIB).
The feature anchors that national push in four operating city examples. Jaipur's Dehlawas STP, commissioned across 2020–23 on a 22.50 hectare site, holds Rajasthan's highest STP capacity at 215 MLD, runs on Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR) technology with full SCADA automation, and discharges treated effluent partly to the Dravyavati River and partly to a nearby colony for gardening (PIB). Indore, the country's first Water+ certified city, runs 3 centralised and 7 decentralised STPs, more than 200 km of reuse piping, and 1.25 lakh rainwater harvesting units installed in four months in 2022 (PIB). Surat and Navi Mumbai are named as further operating models, with the PIB article continuing beyond the supplied excerpt to describe Surat's reuse economics (PIB).
Specification read
The approved small-city pipeline is 4,900 MLD, which converts to roughly 4,900,000 m³/day of new municipal sewage treatment capacity across the programme, while the single largest unit cited, the Dehlawas STP, sits at 215 MLD, about 215,000 m³/day, on a 22.50 hectare footprint in Jaipur (PIB). The SBR train reported at Dehlawas runs raw sewage through a Parshall flume, a primary clarifier and an SBR basin, with sludge handled on primary sludge thickeners and screw press machines, then chlorination before discharge to the Dravyavati River (PIB). The reported reuse envelope is broad: treated water is sent to horticulture, roadside plantations, water gardens, industrial users, road washing and sewer-machine cleaning, with Indore's decentralised cluster suggesting buyers should expect mixed primary–biological–tertiary packages rather than a single template (PIB). For a municipal operator or EPC bidder handling flows in the 1–50 MLD band with a domestic sewage mix and a reuse obligation under Water+, this announcement means the procurement pipeline for Municipal Integrated Sewage Treatment and Mbr Membrane Systems is opening in tier-2 and tier-3 cities over the SBM 2.0 horizon. Detailed effluent parameters, influent BOD/COD, hydraulic retention time and the unit cost per MLD were not reported in the source, so a buyer preparing a bid should request those inputs from the issuing Urban Local Body before sizing equipment. Buyers weighing decentralised packages for hotels, campuses and small towns in similar conditions can compare the engineering envelope against our MABR for Hotel Wastewater: 2026 Engineering Buyer's Guide and our Domestic Sewage Treatment in Madurai: 2026 Buyer & Engineering Guide.
FAQ
What capacity of new STP is being funded under SBM 2.0? Projects worth ₹11,785 crore have been approved, adding 4,900 MLD of sewage treatment capacity in small cities (PIB).
Which treatment technology is the flagship Indian plant using? The Dehlawas STP in Jaipur uses Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR) biology with full SCADA automation and reuses treated water for irrigation, industry and gardening (PIB).
How is Indore already using treated wastewater? Indore routes treated wastewater to water gardens, roadside plantations, horticulture, road washing and sewer-machine cleaning, supported by 7 decentralised STPs, 3 centralised STPs and more than 200 km of reuse piping (PIB).
What is the lead time implied for similar municipal STPs? The source reports that Dehlawas was built over 2020–23, a roughly three-year window for a 215 MLD plant, but does not give a standard lead time for the new 4,900 MLD programme, so this must be confirmed with the implementing Urban Local Body (PIB).
