This paper discusses emerging water crisis in India with the business as usual water use patterns and ways of averting it. Increasing reliance on groundwater has been contributing to pockets of unsustainable water use in many basins. This trend is likely to continue and many river basins will face severe regional water crisis in the next half century. However, proper understanding of the negative impacts of downstream water users, artificial recharge of groundwater could facilitate sustainable water use. Increasing water use efficiency, reducing uncontrolable pumping, increasing water productivity and crop diversification could help in mitigating the groundwater related water crisis. Growth in industrial, services and domestic sectors, water demand in the future shall outpace additional irrigation. This, coupled with increasing desire for a clean and reliable water supply in these sectors, and increasing focuses on environmental water needs shall demand large intra-or inter-basin water transfers