Karnataka orders L&T blacklisted over stalled Jal Jeevan Mission water project

Karnataka’s Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister, Eshwar Khandre, has told officials to blacklist Larsen & Toubro over a Jal Jeevan Mission drinking water project that has made little progress, and to issue final notices to every other contractor that has missed its deadline.

He gave the direction on Wednesday, November 11, at a review of the mission at Vikas Soudha in Bengaluru. The project in question is meant to bring water from the Renukasagar reservoir to 388 rural habitations in Dharwad district and to villages in Kalghatgi taluk (Dharwad) and Saundatti taluk (Belagavi).

What officials told the minister

Officials said the company had not started buying the water pipelines, had not put enough workers on the site, was working very slowly and had not submitted progress reports. It had also made no headway after being served a final notice.

According to reports, the contract was awarded on April 20, 2022, and was due for completion on October 19, 2024, more than two years ago. The same reports put pipe-laying progress at less than 500 metres a day and said poor rural power supply was a further hurdle. The contract value has not been made public in the accounts available.

Khandre said he would accept no delay except one caused by pending forest clearance. He pointed to the shortage of drinking water in villages after inadequate rainfall as the reason for the firmness.

A warning two months old

This is not the first time the minister has pressed contractors. On September 11, at an earlier review in Bengaluru, Khandre told officials and contractors to speed up pending works and send weekly progress reports. “All works must be completed within the stipulated deadlines,” he said then. He also warned that failing to follow Union government standards could cost the state more money, and said about ₹67,000 crore is being spent on single-village and multi-village drinking water schemes.

According to reports of Wednesday’s meeting, L&T did not improve its pace after that instruction. The minister was also unhappy about delays by other agencies on multi-village schemes and ordered final notices to all that had missed their dates.

Officials at the meeting included Principal Secretary Pankaj Kumar Pandey, Secretary D Randeep and Commissioner Fouzia Tarannum B.

Who is affected

For the households in the 388 habitations, the practical question is when taps will run. Reports said a trial run for 126 villages was due by December 2026, while officials said pipe purchase had not yet begun. The scheme sits within the Jal Jeevan Mission, which aims to give every rural household a tap connection, and Khandre cited water shortages after poor rainfall.

How the scheme reached this point

1. April 20, 2022Contract awarded, according to reports
2. October 19, 2024Original completion deadline
3. September 11, 2026Khandre orders weekly progress reports from contractors
4. November 11, 2026Khandre directs that L&T be blacklisted
5. December 2026Trial run for 126 villages due, according to reports

The mission behind the scheme

The Jal Jeevan Mission was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 15, 2019, with the aim of a functional tap connection for every rural home. According to Ministry of Jal Shakti figures reported in August 2026, over 15.91 crore rural households (82.24%) now have tap water, up from about 3.23 crore (16.72%) at launch, and more than 12.68 crore connections have been added in seven years. The mission has been extended to December 2028, with its outlay raised from about ₹3.60 lakh crore to about ₹8.69 lakh crore.

Karnataka’s own record has been a political issue before. The state’s Congress government and the BJP have traded charges over the mission, including over the release of the state’s matching grant, and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has accused the BJP of “peddling lies” on it. The September review and Wednesday’s direction show the department pressing contractors directly.

Reactions

L&T had not responded publicly to the direction in the reports available on Thursday afternoon, and no statement from the Opposition on the blacklisting was found. The minister’s remarks on Wednesday were reported in indirect speech, so his exact words on L&T are not on record beyond the instruction to officials.

What happens next

The blacklisting itself is still a process: officials have been directed to carry it out, and no formal order has been reported. Final notices are to go to the other lagging contractors, and officials are to take up the power supply problem with the electricity distribution companies. L&T’s response to the direction was not available at the time of writing.

The next marker is the December trial run.