Under the National Perspective Plan (NPP), prepared in the year 1980 for inter-basin water transfer, the National Water Development Agency (NWDA) has identified 30 links (16 under Peninsular Component & 14 under Himalayan Component) for preparation of Feasibility Reports. Out of 30 identified link projects, Pre - Feasibility Reports (PFRs) of all the 30 links, Feasibility Reports (FRs) of 24 links and Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) of 11 links have been completed. Details and current status of the proposals for inter-State linking of rivers under the Inter-Linking of Rivers (ILR) Programme is furnished at Annexure.
The Government has been pursuing the inter-linking of rivers (ILR) program in a consultative manner and has accorded top priority to it. A “Special Committee on Interlinking of Rivers” has been constituted in September, 2014 for the implementation of ILR programme. Twenty one meetings of the Special Committee have been held so far. Further, a "Task Force for Interlinking of Rivers" was also constituted in April, 2015 for expediting the works under ILR programme and 18 meetings of the Task Force have been held so far. States have wide representation and active participation in these meetings. The implementation of the ILR projects depends on the party States to reach a consensus.
Ken-Betwa Link Project (KBLP) is the first ILR project, for which implementation has been initiated. Subsequent to the signing of a tripartite Memorandum of Agreement amongst the States of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh and Government of India, the project was approved by the Government of India, in December, 2021, for implementation at an estimated cost of Rs. 44,605 crore (at year 2020-21 price level), including a central support of Rs. 39,317 crore. During the financial year 2021-22, the budget allocation made for implementation of KBLP was Rs. 4,642.03 crore, while the expenditure made was Rs. 4,639.46 crore. During the financial year 2022-23, a budget allocation of Rs. 1,400 crore was made for the project, while the expenditure out of the central grants made was Rs.622.43 crore. For financial year 2023-24, out of a budget allocation of Rs. 3,500 crore made for the project, central grants amounting to Rs.1459.97 crore has been made so far.
