As an incentive for farmers to rationalize the use of groundwater, the report also recommended that they be given upfront energy units at a fixed cost to run pump sets which generate groundwater.

It has suggested that Rs6,000 be given to each farmer at a price of Rs2 per unit of electricity. If the farmer pumps in lesser amount of water than the stipulated 3,000 units, the balance amount can be retained.

"Farmers will be incentivized to use less amounts of groundwater through this process and we feel this should start as a pilot project in some areas," said Navroz Dubash, associate professor at Delhibased Jawaharlal Nehru University and also part of the expert group.

The cost of extracting groundwater for agricultural purposes currently is extremely low as farmers are subsidized for setting up pump sets for this purpose. While the report recommends separating agriculture pump feeders from household pumps, it does not talk about a concrete pricing policy on groundwater usage.

Water experts feels that the report should have taken into account over-exploitation of groundwater for commercial purposes and also lay down a pricing policy. "Recently the ministry of water resources has come out with a report on industrial use of groundwater and how it should be priced. I am surprised that Planning Commission will use this report for Elevent Plan but has not discussed the pricing issue," said a Delhi-based water expert who did not want to be quoted. He also said a proper regulatory mechanism should be developed in order to make the optimal use of groundwater a reality.