Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti on Thursday restated the commitment of the Narendra Modi government for timely completion of the multi-purpose Polavaram irrigation project.
In an informal talk with journalists outside Parliament, Ms. Bharti said the Odisha government had raised some objections to the project.
To sort out the issue, her Ministry had ordered constitution of a joint committee of officials drawn from Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.
Describing the project as ‘national pride,’ the Minister expressed confidence that it would be completed before the stipulated time.
The scheme figures in the AP Reorganisation Act as a national project with 100 per cent funding by the Centre. The Union government has also constituted the Polavaram Project Authority and has allocated Rs. 500 crore in the last two budgets.
As per the revised project report being submitted to the Centre by the AP government, an investment of Rs 30,000 crore is needed to complete the works.
Out of this, Rs. 5,000 crore was spent during the Congress regime by 2014.
