In January 2019, Water. Desalination + reuse (Faversham House) reported that the chief minister of the Indian state of Punjab had set aside INR 25 million (US$351,050) for a pilot to desalinate groundwater. The water was to be drawn from villages with waterlogged land in the landlocked state. Amarinder Singh announced the plan together with other spending measures. Punjab's Department of Water Supply & Sanitation was tasked with drafting an implementation plan.
The report showed desalination being tested far from the coast as a response to problem groundwater in waterlogged areas, initially at a small, state-funded scale.