Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her Budget presentation on February 1, highlighted the Centre’s commitment to execute major river-interlinking projects.
Ms. Sitharaman prominently mentioned the Ken-Betwa river interlinking project that was formally approved by the government last year at an approximate cost of ₹46,000 crore.
A provision of ₹4,300 crore in the Budget for 2021-22 and ₹1,400 crore in 2022-23 had been made.
She also mentioned that Draft Project Reports that laid out implementation plans for five other river-interlinking projects had been finalised. These include the Daman Ganga Pinjar, Par Tapi Narmada, Krishna Godavari, Krishna Pennar and Pennar Cauvery. These are projects that long been in the works.
