Residents of Goa will get 16,000 litres of water per month for free from Wednesday onwards, said Chief Minister Pramod Sawant.

"Goa will be the first state in the country to give water free to the people. We are not giving this water to waste, we want to save water to get free water," Sawant said.

The chief minister said 60 percent of the households will get zero bills. People living in flats or complexes will be able to utilise the scheme, he added.

In a relief to small businesses and restaurants, they will not have to pay industrial bills anymore. "We are moving it to the commercial bill slab, they will be able to save money in a big way. OTS (one-time settlement) has been extended by two months to facilitate payment of pending bills," Sawant added.

Goa Public Works Department Minister Deepak Pauskar had last week said that around 1.5 lakh households in the state will benefit from this scheme.

He had said that out of 3.18 lakh water connections in Goa, 1.5 lakh are using up to 16,000 litres every month. Reservoirs in the state have enough water to cater to the entire population, Pauskar said. Goa requires 600 million litres of water per day (MLD), according to the minister.

With inputs from PTI