An assessment of multidimensional water poverty in India: an application of Alkire–Foster dual cut-off approach

Proper measurement of water poverty is essential for designing appropriate and effective water policies, particularly in emerging economies like India. Against this backdrop, this study proposes to estimate India’s Multidimensional Water Poverty Index (MWPI) by applying the Alkire–Foster approach (two stages identification process) to quantify water deprivation at the household level. This methodology captures several attributes to understand the complex issues related to households’ water deprivation, thus enabling decomposition of the overall MWPI into dimensions, as well as state, rural and urban classifications. This study analysed two rounds of Indian Human Development Survey data (IHDS 2004–05 and 2011–12) to find that water poverty in India is 44.9 per cent and 40.9 per cent for 2004–05 and 2011–12, respectively. By decomposing the country’s MWPI for both rounds, Orissa and Bihar emerged as the states with the highest MWPI for rounds 1 and 2, respectively. Furthermore, access to water sources and sanitation were identified as significant contributors to India’s MWPI for both rounds. The uniqueness of this study lies in it being the first to estimate the multidimensional water poverty index using the Alkire–Foster approach. This study provides insightful data for policymakers to prioritise lower- or higher-intensity water-poverty households to ensure improvements in the overall MWPI. Another significant intervention is the identification of specific indicators that majorly impact the MWPI.