In India, the largest consumer of water is Agriculture amounting to more than 80% of the total water consumption.

Industrial water consumption is about 1015% of the total.

If we do not consider agriculture as an industry then the highest water consumers are Thermal Power Plants which comprise of 87% of the total industrial water usage or about 812% of the total water consumption. This is because cooling water is a crucial requirement for the thermal power plant. To prevent thermal pollution due to the discharge of heated water, most of the plants have closed loop water cycle. In such a plant, they evaporate the water and force cool it by fans. The water is generally taken from a nearby River or in rare occasions Sea directly via Canal.