Jal Jeevan Mission Extended to 2028: New Operational Guidelines 2.0 and the ‘Tender Premium’ Loophole, Explained

CURRENT AFFAIRS | MAY 18, 2026

Four years into Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), the Union government has closed a costly loophole. New Operational Guidelines 2.0, issued after the Union Cabinet extended the mission to March 2028, list 11 categories of inadmissible expenditure — most importantly, the long-controversial “tender premium” (the amount a bidder quotes above the estimated cost) is no longer reimbursable from the Centre’s share. The audit trail is sharp: ₹16,839 crore in cost escalation across 14,586 schemes — a 14.58% rise over estimated cost. For CLAT 2027, this is a cooperative-federalism story with constitutional, statutory and SDG dimensions.

What Changed: From JJM 1.0 to JJM 2.0

Jal Jeevan Mission was launched on 15 August 2019 with a 2024 target of Har Ghar Jal. The Cabinet has now extended the deadline to March 2028. With the extension came Operational Guidelines 2.0, which insert tender premium, vehicles, tea/coffee, pandal charges, construction of office or conference halls, guest houses, residential buildings, FDI in funds, expenditure beyond sanctioned cost without prior approval, salary payments beyond cadre strength, O&M expenses, and the use of mission funds for urban/sectoral water-supply revenue into the inadmissible list.

Test Yourself — 10 MCQs on Jal Jeevan Mission 2.0