Thread by @MacroPb

1/8 Punjab looses USD 191.3 billion by giving free water to Rajasthan and Haryana. This is equal to Rs. 14.93 lakh crore. This is more than double the entire GDP of Punjab. This equals Rs. 4.98 lakh/person each year.
How ? Let's find out in the thread.
#SYL #Punjab #water

2/8 By official data, Punjab shares 8.6 MAF of water with Rajasthan and 3.5 MAF of water with Haryana. This totals to 12.1 MAF of water going out of Punjab.

3/8 What does MAF mean?
It means how much water is needed to raise the water level in a million acre field by 1 foot.
How many liters are there in 1 MAF?
There are 14,925 billion liters or 14.92 lakh crore liters in 1 MAF.

4/8 We know water is not free and sells for a cost. When we go to the market, we have to pay to get drinking water. Normally, bottled water sells at minimum for Rs. 20/ltr.

5/8 Let's assume that Punjab sells water for only Rs. 1/liter. That would mean revenue of Rs. 14.92 lakh crore or USD 191.3 billion. For context, total GDP for Punjab is around Rs. 6 lakh crore. Revenue from Punjab waters would triple the GDP of Punjab.

6/8 That would mean that income for Punjab as a whole would more than triple and on average each resident will have annual income of Rs. 6.98 lakh. Total debt on Punjab is 3 lakh crore. It would be paid off in less than 3 months revenue from water sales.

7/8 GDP of Punjab will then be close to 10% of GDP of India. No other state in India shares its natural resource for free. Punjab pays to import coal from Jharkhand and Bihar. Punjab pays to import marble and Natural Gas from Rajasthan.

8/8 Instead of appreciating the free water sharing by Punjab, media and center government constantly demonize Punjab for not sharing "more".