iJal: Enabling Clean Drinking Water for Communities

Water is at the core of sustainable development — vital for human survival, healthy ecosystems, and socio-economic progress. Bayer’s commitment to effective water management goes beyond our operations and reflects our ambition to generate lasting impact. As a leader in health and agriculture, we are dedicated to conserving water and ensuring equitable access to clean, safe water for all.

Access to clean and reliable drinking water is becoming increasingly scarce in India, driven by depleting groundwater reserves, erratic rainfall, and inadequate civic infrastructure. With 18% of the world’s population but only 4% of its water resources, India is among the most water-stressed countries globally. Addressing this challenge requires sustainable, community-driven solutions — and the iJal water stations are a critical step forward.

As part of a nationwide effort, 90 iJal stations are being installed by Bayer across Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Telangana, aiming to provide nearly 270,000 people with inclusive, equitable, and affordable access to clean drinking water.

Each station uses advanced purification technology to deliver safe water at a nominal cost through a prepaid RFID smart card system. Beyond access, the initiative emphasizes local empowerment — Self-Help Groups and entrepreneurs are trained to operate and maintain the stations, ensuring community ownership and long-term sustainability. A robust Monitoring & Evaluation framework further guarantees consistent performance and minimal downtime.

This initiative reflects Bayer’s broader mission to drive inclusive, practical, and sustainable change. By addressing the critical need for clean water, the iJal program not only safeguards health but also creates economic opportunities and strengthens community resilience. Complementing this, awareness campaigns promote safe water practices and encourage responsible household usage, ensuring long-term well-being and sustainability.

Water for Farming: Building Resilient Rural Communities

Water is the lifeline of agriculture, yet farmers in aspirational districts across India face acute challenges from water scarcity, soil erosion, and the growing impact of climate change. With over 85% of cultivation dependent on rainfall, lack of irrigation infrastructure often restricts farmers to a single crop cycle, forcing many to migrate in search of livelihoods.

To address this, Bayer has launched integrated water conservation and management initiatives in four aspirational districts across Jharkhand and Odisha. Our Watershed Development Project combines infrastructure creation with community empowerment — from farm ponds, diversion-based irrigation canals, stone bunds, and solar pump systems to capacity building and formation of water user groups. These measures enhance groundwater recharge, reduce runoff, prevent soil erosion, and secure year-round irrigation.

The outcomes have been truly transformative - In Jharkhand, newly created water conservation structures have harvested and stored over 40 crore litres of water, enabling farmers to take up multiple cropping cycles. In Odisha, diversion-based irrigation has brought an additional 45 acres under cultivation during the rabi season, raising household incomes by INR 10,000–12,000 per family. Complementary initiatives such as fish and duck rearing have further diversified livelihoods and strengthened household resilience.

Strengthening Water Security and Hygiene in Communities

Bayer is also working to improve access to clean drinking water and promote sustainable water practices across some of India’s most underserved regions. In Morena district of Madhya Pradesh (Ambah and Porsa blocks), we have strengthened drinking water security and groundwater recharge by installing 30 rainwater harvesting systems in Anganwadi centres. These systems are directly benefiting over 4,000 community members, ensuring reliable drinking water for children and nearby households, while also contributing to long-term groundwater replenishment. Alongside the infrastructure, awareness programmes are mobilizing communities to adopt sustainable water management practices for lasting impact.

In Lucknow and Varanasi districts of Uttar Pradesh, the focus is on ensuring safe drinking water access and embedding improved hygiene behaviour across 200 Anganwadi centres. The initiative combines sustainable infrastructure with a community-driven model, encouraging children and caregivers to adopt better WASH (Water, Sanitation & Hygiene) practices.

Together, these initiatives are helping secure water access, recharge local water resources, and promote healthier hygiene practices — building the foundation for healthier, more resilient communities.

Borewell Recharge: Harnessing Rainwater for Farmers

The availability of fresh water is a growing concern around the world. In response to this challenge, Bayer recharged 710 borewells of smallholder famers in Buldhana and Dharashiv, Maharashtra using an innovative bore charger technology to revive dormant borewells. This initiative has benefited over 1,200 people and enabled irrigation across 350 acres, while also improving the water table and providing a much-needed source of water for local farmers.

The Bore Charger is a smart, patented, water harvesting technique that perforates impervious PVC or MS steel casing pipe at hydro geologically appropriate depth using a robotic arm. The yield improvement is achieved by puncturing the casing of the borewell at appropriate depths to allow water from the unconfined aquifer system to enter the borewell.

This intervention helps to:

• Improves irrigation and drinking water availability.
• Reduces soil salination and improves soil health.
• Enhances farm productivity and income, reducing vulnerability to climate shocks.
• Improves drinking water quality by lowering harmful dissolved salts and fluorides.
• Helps mitigate flooding by enabling rainwater percolation.

This initiative not only secures water resources for the small holder farmers, but also strengthens rural livelihoods, contributing to healthier communities and more resilient farming systems.

Together, these efforts reflect Bayer’s vision of a future where communities thrive with sustainable access to water — the foundation of health, food security, and resilience.