Why Energy-Efficient Pumps Are the Future of Water Solutions

Usha Subramaniam, Country President of Grundfos India, in an exclusive interaction with Thiruamuthan, Assistant Editor at Industry Outlook, discusses the pivotal role of energy-efficient pump technologies in India’s water-energy nexus. She highlights how these solutions reduce energy consumption, manage water resources, support industries, and enable sustainable growth aligned with the country’s net-zero and development ambitions.

Usha is a seasoned business leader with over two decades of global experience across Europe, the US, and Asia. She is skilled in business management, profit-center leadership, and people development and has consistently driven organizational success while championing diversity, inclusion, and sustainability. 

As India accelerates efforts to make its water infrastructure more energy-efficient, how are advanced pump technologies transforming usage across agriculture and utilities today? 

I believe this is one of the most important topics when we consider India’s development and its ambitions to become a high-GDP, developed nation. Two vital enablers of this growth are water and energy, and right at the center of both is the role of pumps. 

For India to thrive, our industries such as manufacturing, infrastructure, and services must perform powerfully. This spans industries, commercial infrastructure such as railways and airports, and essential services like hospitals, malls, and water utilities. Achieving efficiency across the spectrum requires a joint management of water and energy, together.

In many industries, water plays a critical role, whether in traditional or advanced operations. Sectors like textiles, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, and food and beverage are highly water-intensive. Key applications include heating, cooling, and treatment. For example, the pharmaceutical sector requires cooling with clean water at controlled temperature levels, while in the food and beverage sector, water treatment is indispensable. 

Here, technology becomes crucial. Advanced pumps and digital solutions help optimize processes and significantly reduce energy consumption. Pumps alone can lower industrial energy usage by 20 to 70 percent, which is a considerable reduction in operating costs. This is achieved through innovations like permanent magnet motors, optimized hydraulics, and digital monitoring systems that provide predictive insights. At Grundfos, we describe this as enabling “water to speak”—using data to interpret water’s behavior and optimize its use. 

Leader's Thoughts: Water Resource Management: How Advanced Pump Technologies Help

With increasing stress on both energy consumption and groundwater levels in key water-use sectors, how are energy-efficient pumps helping address these dual challenges? 

I think this is at the center of India’s water and energy nexus, as the country has traditionally depended heavily on groundwater. India extracts about 230 cubic kilometers annually, more than 25 percent of global extraction—a very high number. Over time, this depletion has wreaked havoc, severely affecting agriculture, irrigation, and the drinking water supply. All studies forecast that demand will continue to escalate, making it critical to curb excessive extraction and use. 

A study in Chennai’s Vengikal Panchayat highlights the issue. Around 20 submersible pumps deliver 1.9 to 2 MLD of water to about 627,000 people. Annual energy consumption here is nearly 500,000 kilowatt hours using non-energy-efficient 7.5 HP pumps. Even at a conservative 35 percent savings, energy use could drop to about 325,000 kilowatt hours, avoiding nearly 130,000 tons of CO2 emissions. 

If extrapolated to Chennai, where demand is about 1,100 MLD, the savings could reach 96.25 million kilowatts per hour. This shows how energy-efficient pumps reduce stress on groundwater while delivering both immediate and long-term impact.

Even with clear long-term savings and policy support, adoption remains inconsistent across regions—what are the biggest roadblocks to replacing legacy pump systems? 

This is a critical area to focus on because it requires a significant mindset shift. Traditionally, India has been an economy trained to look only at immediate costs, rather than lifetime or lifecycle costs. These include initial installation, long-term maintenance, and eventual replacement. Understanding and investing with a lifecycle perspective is not something we have systematically developed as a country, wherein, this maturity is still needed. 

There are, however, intermittent examples of progress. One such case is a prefabricated pumping system we installed in Navi Mumbai. The entire unit was prefabricated, allowing the site to be dug up, installed, and connected within a short time. This approach is very different from traditional utility work, where pipelines are laid and closed over extended periods. Instead, the prefabricated system offered a quicker, more efficient process. 

Shifting towards such practices requires a shift in readiness to look at things differently. Technology brings less disruption, faster execution, and more promising lifecycle savings, but also requires initial investments. To attain this at scale, sufficient funding, training, and awareness across decision-making are important. 

With cost a major barrier in low-income and public procurement settings, how are manufacturers balancing affordability with long-term efficiency and performance? 

I think the situation for manufacturers is relatively easier than in the public or utility domain. The reason is that within industry and manufacturing, the cost of water and energy is well understood. From a Grundfos perspective, we find that adoption of technology and readiness for long-term thinking is much higher in the manufacturing sector. 

The typical barrier of being forced to remain a low-cost player is not as prominent here as it is in other domains. This is also because industry in India generally pays more than other sectors for both water and energy, which makes the need and benefit of optimization very clear. 

Large-scale manufacturers can adopt such measures more easily, but the MSME sector presents the bigger opportunity. MSMEs are the real driver of India’s manufacturing GDP and contribute significantly to the economy. However, their adoption rate of advanced technology is still lower, which limits the impact. If the MSME sector increases adoption, the overall effect on manufacturing efficiency, water use, and energy optimization could be far more substantial. 

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As India aligns water systems with its broader climate and net-zero goals, what strategic role will energy-efficient pumps play over the coming decade? 

Energy and water efficiency play a predominant role in India’s future. In fact, efficiency is a crucial part of India’s net-zero and development ambitions. However, sustainable growth hinges on optimizing these two critical resources. Whether in manufacturing, infrastructure, or utilities, India cannot reach its goals without clear intent, financing models, and adoption of energy efficiency, particularly within the water sector. 

Additionally, understanding the water-energy nexus is crucial to improve both the levers required for sustainability. Energy efficiency in pumping solutions pushes water efficiency. Despite progress in the installed capacity of renewable energy, the current progress is still inadequate for overall demand, making large-scale energy reduction vital for climate goals. 

Within the water space, the single biggest driver of this is energy-efficient pumps—especially intelligent, digitally controlled pumps. Along with improving water use and reuse, these solutions deliver intelligence to manage systems better. Large-scale adoption is crucial for India to achieve sustainable growth.