Royalty in respect of use of ground water

(1) Every user of ground water in a notified area shall pay to the Authority a royalty for extraction of ground water at such rates and in such manner as may be prescribed by the Authority with the prior approval of the State Government : Provided that a user of ground water who irrigates for Agriculture/Horticulture or Floriculture less than one hectare of land, whether owned or leased or both, shall be exempted from payment of royalty under this section. (2) The Authority may, assign such proportion of the royalty, as may be prescribed for maintenance of Water Supply Schemes and development of ground water resources or any other purposes.