The initiative spans four major urban centres—Bengaluru, Hyderabad, New Delhi, and Mumbai—and supports Amazon’s goal to return more water to communities than it uses in its direct operations in India by 2027, the company said.
“Water security represents one of India’s most pressing environmental challenges, requiring collaborative solutions across sectors,” said Abhinav Singh, Vice President of Operations, Amazon India and Australia in a statement.
“Through strategic investments in both urban and rural watersheds, we’re not only addressing immediate water access issues but also building long-term resilience for communities where we operate. Each project is designed to support agricultural livelihoods, enhancing biodiversity, and securing urban water supplies,” he said.
Yamuna River watershed project
Amazon’s water portfolio includes the restoration of Yamare Lake near Bengaluru and Sai Reddy Lake near Hyderabad, in collaboration with SayTrees. Together, these lakes are expected to replenish over 570 million liters annually. In New Delhi, the company is working with Hasten Regeneration on a Yamuna River watershed project that is expected to add another 400 million litres of annual replenishment capacity.
In July, Amazon launched its first-ever water replenishment project in the Yamuna River watershed to tackle water scarcity and over-extraction of groundwater in the national capital
This project is part of Amazon’s water conservation initiatives running across India. These initiatives have included major lake restoration efforts and community water solutions benefiting over 1 million people since 2020, the firm said in a statement.
These initiatives employ solutions like desilting, repairing bund formations, restoring inlet/outlet structures, and constructing percolation pits to maximise water replenishment.
Amazon also announced its latest water investment—a ₹10 crore project in Maharashtra’s Vaitarna hydrobasin that will replenish 1.3 billion litres annually when completed in 2027. Developed with the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), this initiative spans communities upstream of Mumbai, implementing rainwater harvesting structures, field bunding, and improved drainage networks that are expected to benefit 700 farming families while supporting water security for Mumbai’s metropolitan region.
These water replenishment initiatives align with Amazon’s broader sustainability commitments, including its goal to reach net-zero carbon across its operations by 2040 as a co-founder of The Climate Pledge.
Water security represents one of India’s most pressing environmental challenges, requiring collaborative solutions across sectors.
“It is with immense pleasure that I welcome the initiative to replenish the Vaitarna River. Enhancing climate resilience in water-stressed communities is a key priority for the Maharashtra Government,” Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister of Maharashtra, was quoted as saying in the statement.
Similarly, AWS has implemented significant water projects across India, including groundwater recharge and rainwater harvesting initiatives with WaterAid in Hyderabad and Andhra Pradesh, which are expected to supply 640 million litres of water annually.
AWS’s collaboration with Water.org has provided more than 500 million litres of water annually to people who previously lacked consistent access to clean water around Mumbai and Hyderabad.
