The highest proportion of the total water used in the country is in which one of the following sectors?

Irrigation

The correct answer is option 1: Irrigation

In India, the largest proportion of water is used in the agricultural sector for irrigation purposes. Agriculture is highly dependent on water for crop cultivation, and therefore irrigation consumes the maximum share of total water use in the country.

NCERT: Agriculture accounts for most of the surface and groundwater utilisation, it accounts for 89 per cent of the surface water and 92 per cent of the groundwater utilisation. While the share of industrial sector is limited to 2 per cent of the surface water utilisation and 5 per cent of the ground-water, the share of domestic sector is higher (9 per cent) in surface water utilisation as compared to groundwater. The share of agricultural sector in total water utilisation is much higher than other sectors.