India abstracts the most groundwater (GW) worldwide and with a very large portion of drinking supplies dependent on it, the ever-increasing reliance on GW has resulted in nearly one-third of GW blocks in a critical, semi-critical or overexploited condition in terms of quality and quantity. Natural treatment processes such as managed aquifer recharge (MAR) and riverbank filtration (RBF) are considered most relevant for the Indian context due to their sustainability and robustness and have huge undeveloped potential to address water scarcity issues. Although there is a large potential for the further development of RBF in India as an alternative and supplement to direct surface water abstraction, it’s potential remains scientifically unexplored and unutilised across many parts of India, especially in the East. Through the mobility of four young scientists funded by the DAAD (Germany) and DST (India), the project will initiate an academic relation between the project partners HTW Dresden and Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute in Durgapur, India.