Water stewardship in action: Becoming water positive in India

We’re taking action to address water scarcity, access, and quality across the country.

Amazon has been working in India since 2013, and today, we operate one of the largest fulfilment and delivery networks in the country, serving customers in every postal code. We're also the largest foreign investor in India, with plans to invest $88 billion in the country through 2030. As we grow there, we’re committed to being a good water steward by supporting conservation and replenishment efforts.

At the Amazon India Sustainability Summit in 2024, Kara Hurst, Amazon’s chief sustainability officer, announced our goal to return more water to communities in India than we use in our direct operations—including corporate offices, data centers, and fulfillment centers—by 2027. 

We achieved that goal in 2025 by returning 120% of the water we used that year. Here’s how.

Reducing and reusing water at our facilities

Amazon has implemented conservation measures to improve water efficiency and reduce reliance on potable resources. That includes low-flow fixtures and smart water meters that monitor usage, identify leaks early, and enable rapid repairs. We’ve also introduced more water-efficient ways to clean package-handling totes and support water circularity by capturing condensate from air handling units, helping to reduce baseline consumption across our logistics network.

And we’re increasing the reuse of treated water for non-potable applications. At 27 logistics locations, on-site sewage treatment plants recycle greywater for toilet flushing, irrigation, and more, saving around 300 million liters of water annually. Meanwhile, on-site rainwater-harvesting systems collected approximately 178 million liters of water across India in 2025, supporting groundwater recharge efforts.

Replenishing water in communities

Water stewardship extends beyond Amazon’s facilities. By investing in projects that address local water needs, we’re helping contribute to healthier watersheds.

That means working with local organizations on 12 water replenishment projects across India, in the Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Pune regions. The projects involve lake restoration, groundwater recharge, rainwater harvesting, wastewater treatment, and irrigation efficiency. Together, they’re expected to replenish more than 4 billion liters of water annually once fully operational. 

This work has reached several recent milestones.

In Chennai, SIV Impact constructed a modular sewage treatment plant along the Buckingham Canal to capture wastewater that previously flowed into the Adyar River without treatment. The plant started operating in September and aims to treat at least 200 million liters of sewage annually. The facility recovers water for groundwater recharge and non-potable reuse, reducing river pollution while making more treated water available for the community.

Upstream of Delhi, Hasten Regeneration, in collaboration with Arpan Seva Sansthan and Clear Water Dynamics, completed initial construction on a groundwater recharge project in the Yamuna River watershed designed to replenish 400 million liters of water annually. The project includes two gabion check dams, which are rock-filled wire-mesh structures designed to slow monsoon runoff and allow water to soak into the ground. Recharge shafts—vertical boreholes channeling surface water into deeper soil layers that will further increase infiltration of excess monsoon flows—are scheduled for installation in December.

Upstream of Mumbai, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics is implementing a groundwater recharge and agricultural resilience project spanning 1,500 hectares across six villages in the Vaitarna River watershed. The team built low earthen walls around farm fields to slow rainwater and reduce soil erosion, and nearly 100 overflow channels to safely route excess water toward ponds and rainwater harvesting tanks. The team will next build additional ponds, tanks, and drainage channels to further reduce runoff, improve soil moisture and groundwater recharge, and strengthen crop productivity for farming communities. The project is expected to replenish 1.3 billion liters of water annually by 2027.

In Hyderabad's northern agricultural belt, Netafim implemented precision drip irrigation infrastructure across 40 hectares of farmland, enabling 40 families to transition from flood irrigation to a system that delivers water and nutrients directly to crop roots. The project is expected to save 150 million liters of water annually. By delivering water and nutrients more precisely, the system can also help growers use fertilizer more efficiently and reduce electricity consumption for pumping. Together, more efficient water, fertilizer, and electricity use helps growers lower input costs and improve farm productivity.

Learn more about our water stewardship efforts in India and around the world.

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