Water In formation: Key to Empowerment of Stakeholder- India-wris, An initiative of Central Water Commission

India has an average annual rainfall of more than 1105 mm/year but still struggles to make its water resources safe and accessible in all parts of the country. Sustainable and efficient water resource management is a highly complex task that requires comprehensive, consistent, and up-to-date water related information. A well-developed information system for water-related data in its entirety, at the national/state level, can help to a large extent in developing, operating, managing, and conserving the scarce water resources in an integrated and environmentally sustainable manner. One such Initiative to bring all the water related data at a single platform is India-Water Resources Information System (popularly abbreviated as India-WRIS) developed jointly by Central Water Commission, Ministry of Jal Shakti and Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Department of Space, Govt. of India. India- WRIS Web-GIS was launched in the year 2009 with a vision to generate, analyze and disseminate water resources related information in the public domain using advance GIS processing systems. It helps to serve the nation through research, capacity building, linkages, outreach, and governance in water sector. This paper describes the advantages and need of robust Indian Water Resources Information System (India-WRIS), its history, vision, goals, scope and database generated for the users along with potential of its use in various water resources aspects. A robust and accessible database of water and land resources is essential for effective and sustainable management of water resources considering the socio-economic angle associated with the water. The paper also includes brief description of National Water Informatics Centre (NWIC) created during March 2018, under the Ministry of Jal Shakti to take up maintenance, updation, and management of India-WRIS project.