NHP would not only strengthen the existing monitoring systems for water availability, but would also include the monitoring of water use and would put much emphasis on IWRM and real-time monitoring and flow forecasting. There are a total of 47 implementing agencies (IAs) including eight central agencies (MoWR, RD&GR; CWC, CGWB, NIH, CPCB, SoI, NRSC and CWPRS), 37 state-level agencies and two river basin organizations (RBO).

The project will cover all major river basins of India and will require strong collaboration and cooperation among central and state levels of government. The project has four components: (A) Water Resources Data Acquisition, (B) Water Resources Information Systems, (C) Water Resources Operations and
Planning, and (D) Water Resources Institutional Capacity Enhancement. These components (and their sub-components) map across the conceptual framework, with Component C spanning the application of systems/tools to generate water information products, and Component D encompassing strengthening of both technical and planning/policy capacity as shown in the figure.