Water beneath the plain.
Groundwater supports farms, homes and industry. The Central Ground Water Board estimates how much is extracted against the resource assessed each year.
BIHAR / ASSESSMENT YEAR 2023–24
One state, many local conditions.
The 2024 assessment estimates annual extraction of 14.10 billion cubic metres against an annual extractable resource of 30.95 billion cubic metres for Bihar as a whole. Its reported extraction stage is 45.54%.
That state ratio does not describe every district or block. It says nothing by itself about whether groundwater is safe to drink.
Read the Central Ground Water Board report ↗DISTRICT EXPLORER / 2024
Compare the assessment.
Patna
61.55% extraction stage
- Annual extractable resource
- 98,219.1 ham
- Annual extraction
- 60,449.74 ham
- For irrigation
- 42,257.58 ham
- For domestic use
- 16,758.19 ham
- For industry
- 1,433.96 ham
Light to dark shows a lower to higher reported extraction stage. This is a continuous scale, not the CGWB’s block-level classification.
All 38 districts
Annual quantities are in hectare-metres (ham): one ham is 10,000 cubic metres. The stage is annual extraction divided by annual extractable groundwater resource, as reported by CGWB.
| District | Extractable resource (ham) | Annual extraction (ham) | Extraction stage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Araria | 1,45,303.68 | 31,953.96 | 21.99% |
| Arwal | 19,119.92 | 9,212.33 | 48.18% |
| Aurangabad | 1,19,726.23 | 35,873.86 | 29.96% |
| Banka | 63,632.68 | 24,414.83 | 38.37% |
| Begusarai | 50,675.69 | 34,226.51 | 67.54% |
| Bhagalpur | 71,315.39 | 28,322.76 | 39.71% |
| Bhojpur | 78,971.26 | 40,295.52 | 51.03% |
| Buxar | 56,138.3 | 25,511.78 | 45.44% |
| Darbhanga | 69,980.65 | 39,943.13 | 57.08% |
| East Champaran | 1,75,758.62 | 76,127.87 | 43.31% |
| Gaya | 1,19,480.56 | 65,416.38 | 54.75% |
| Gopalganj | 95,892.6 | 54,002.25 | 56.32% |
| Jamui | 45,487.64 | 18,243.03 | 40.11% |
| Jehanabad | 29,704.79 | 23,980.4 | 80.73% |
| Kaimur | 74,894.61 | 32,587.58 | 43.51% |
| Katihar | 1,11,235.59 | 47,255.67 | 42.48% |
| Khagaria | 44,454.07 | 28,316.72 | 63.7% |
| Kishanganj | 59,241.4 | 20,401.43 | 34.44% |
| Lakhisarai | 37,503.18 | 10,800.42 | 28.8% |
| Madhepura | 98,390.31 | 38,715.46 | 39.35% |
| Madhubani | 1,30,565.01 | 60,390.32 | 46.25% |
| Munger | 37,580.04 | 13,495.25 | 35.91% |
| Muzaffarpur | 1,11,999.92 | 74,285.42 | 66.33% |
| Nalanda | 58,002.8 | 45,568.79 | 78.56% |
| Nawada | 62,569.64 | 31,232.3 | 49.92% |
| Patna | 98,219.1 | 60,449.74 | 61.55% |
| Purnia | 1,51,485.74 | 53,555.65 | 35.35% |
| Rohtas | 1,06,504.5 | 33,775 | 31.71% |
| Saharsa | 63,652.19 | 23,842.55 | 37.46% |
| Samastipur | 80,434.25 | 55,184.4 | 68.61% |
| Saran | 1,00,266.08 | 42,217.61 | 42.11% |
| Sheikhpura | 16,331.26 | 9,517.95 | 58.28% |
| Sheohar | 16,711.28 | 9,663.54 | 57.83% |
| Sitamarhi | 61,797.85 | 29,208.59 | 47.26% |
| Siwan | 97,746.85 | 55,108.97 | 56.38% |
| Supaul | 97,479.47 | 31,908.53 | 32.73% |
| Vaishali | 73,084.5 | 47,347.44 | 64.78% |
| West Champaran | 1,64,113.33 | 47,217.75 | 28.77% |
For context, explore historical rainfall and temperature and the crop records in each district factbook. Their reference periods and methods differ from the 2024 groundwater assessment; they should not be read as a single water-stress score.
Source, definitions and limitations
The figures are district aggregates from Table 8, printed page 51 of the Central Ground Water Board’s 2024 Bihar report. The main table was cross-checked against Annexure II and its 38 district extraction figures sum to the source's state total within rounding. The report includes inconsistent older base-year text in some district narrative paragraphs; this view uses the explicitly dated 2024 tables.
These are assessment estimates based on available surveys and methods, not live water levels. A district aggregate can hide considerable local variation. The board classifies assessment units separately; do not apply a district average to individual blocks, wells or drinking-water quality.
CGWB permits accurate reproduction with acknowledgment under its copyright policy. Source and calculation details are available in the data record.