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India is the largest global freshwater user despite being highly water scarce. Agriculture is largest consumer of water and is most affected by water scarcity. Water scarcity is a persistent challenge in India, due to a gap in science and policy spheres. Virtual Water (VW) flows concept to mitigate water scarcity is at the science-policy interface. The paper aims to address the gap in VW research in India by first analyzing the interstate VW-flows embedded in food grains, and then linking these VW-flows with the water scarcity situation in the states, and elements of state and national water policies for the postreforms, and recovery periods of India's agriculture. There were net water savings (WS) of 207.5 PL during 1996-2014, indicating sustainable flows at the national level. WS increased from 11.2 TL/yr (1996-2005) to 25931.7 TL/yr (2005-2014), with the increase in interstate movement of food grains, and yield. However, unsustainable flows are seen at subnational scale, as VW-flows are from highly water-scarce states in North to highly water-scarce states in West and South. These flows are causing a concentration of water scarcity in water-scarce zones/states. Net VW imports were found to be driven by larger population and net VW exports by arable land. Further, the absence of state water policy cripples water management. Therefore, the paper argues that there is a need to rethink policy decisions on agriculture at the national and state level by internalizing water as a factor of production, through VW research.

Plain Language Summary Water scarcity has been a persistent challenge in India. Agriculture is most affected by it as agriculture is the largest water user in India. The challenge has not been resolved because there is a gap between the knowledge and governance on water scarcity. This research aims to address the gap by first analyzing the water flows embodied (virtual/hidden) in agriculture products moving between states of India to create the knowledge on the flows. Second, by linking it with the water scarcity situation, and some elements of water policy to understand the gaps in knowledge and governance to mitigate water scarcity. The research is unique because it demonstrates the importance of bridging the knowledge governance gap to mitigate water scarcity through virtual water (VW) flows assessment. Some VW-flows between the states were found to be unsustainable as they are from highly to other highly water scarce zones/states and are leading to concentration of water scarcity in already highly water scarce zones/states. In contrast, sustainable flows, i.e., from low to high water scarcity zones/states lead to distribution of water scarcity. Absence of well-informed water policy reflect the knowledge governance gap, which leads to unsustainable VW flows hence water scarcity