India, July 8 -- Maharashtra's ambitious push to provide clean tap water to every rural household under the Jal Jeevan Mission has hit a major financial hurdle. With the Centre withdrawing its grant support for the flagship scheme, the state is now expected to bear the full cost of ongoing and future works-at a time when it is already struggling to clear pending bills worth Rs.12,000 crore for completed projects.

The Jal Jeevan Mission was launched in 2019 by the central government to provide functional tap water connections to all rural households by 2024. The Centre had approved a total outlay of Rs.2.08 lakh crore for the scheme between 2019-20 and 2023-24, with states like Maharashtra receiving 50% of the funding as a central grant. ...