Market Intelligence | Water: Indian Cities Begin the Shift from Sludge Disposal to Resource Recovery

The transition from sludge disposal to resource recovery is no longer merely a future proposition for India. Several Indian cities are beginning to redesign how sludge is treated and what happens to the resources contained within it. Vadodara has already demonstrated an operating model at scale, while Mumbai is embedding advanced biosolids management into a major new generation of wastewater infrastructure. Other cities are now beginning to follow.

Together, these developments could mark the beginning of an important shift: sludge treatment becoming an integral part of wastewater infrastructure rather than an unresolved consequence of it.