(a) whether there is any pricing policy for packaged drinking water set by the Government, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
(b) whether most packaged drinking water manufacturing units use groundwater; and
(c) if so, the measures taken by the Government to curb the same?
MINISTER OF STATEIN THE MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI
(SHRI RATTAN LAL KATARIA)
(a) Under the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011 certain mandatory declarations like name and address of the manufacturer/ packer/ importer, name of the commodity, net quantity, month and year of manufacturing, retail sale price and consumer care details etc. are required to be made on all pre-packaged commodities in the interest of consumers.
(b) & (c) Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued an order dated the 2nd January, 2018 wherein it has been mandated that ''insofar as grant of FSSAI license to new industries (extracting ground water) located in 1,034 over exploited areas is concerned, no such requests shall be considered by FSSAI without No Objection Certificate (NOC) from Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA).
CGWA is granting No Objection Certificates (NOCs) to industries including packaged drinking water units for extraction of ground water subject to mandatory conditions for rainwater harvesting / augmentation of ground water recharge, monitoring ground water use and water levels and optimal utilization of recycled / treated wastewater.
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