News Brief
India's Mega River-Linking Drive Progresses: DPRs Done For 11 Links, Rs 3,969 Crore Spent On Ken-Betwa Project So Far
Ken-Betwa River Linking Project
The Ministry of Jal Shakti has informed the Parliament that Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) have been completed for 11 river-linking projects under the National Perspective Plan (NPP), a major initiative aimed at redistributing water from surplus to deficit regions across India.
These 11 link projects, identified and studied by the National Water Development Agency (NWDA), form part of the 30 interlinking proposals under the NPP, which includes 14 from the Himalayan component and 16 from the Peninsular component.
Of the 30, all have pre-feasibility reports, 26 have completed feasibility reports, and 11 have reached the DPR stage—signifying readiness for implementation.
"The Government of India formulated the National Perspective Plan (NPP) for the Inter-Linking of Rivers (ILR) programme to facilitate the transfer of water from surplus basins to deficit basins and regions. The National Water Development Agency (NWDA) has been entrusted with the responsibility of implementing the ILR projects under the NPP framework," Union Minister of State for Jal Shakti Raj Bhushan Choudhary said in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.
"A total of 30 ILR projects have been identified, encompassing two major components: the Himalayan Component with 14 link projects and the Peninsular Component with 16 link projects," the minister said.
"As of July 2025, Pre-Feasibility Reports (PFRs) have been completed for
all 30 projects, Feasibility Reports (FRs) for 26 projects, and Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) for 11 link projects," he added.
The projects with completed DPRs include key links like:
Alternate Godavari (Inchampalli)–Krishna (Nagarjunasagar)
Godavari (Inchampalli/SSMPP)–Krishna (Pulichintala)
Alternate Pennar (Somasila) - Cauvery (Grand Anicut) link
Cauvery (Kattalai)–Vaigai–Gundar
Damanganga–Pinjal
Par–Tapi–Narmada
Bedti–Varda
Ken–Betwa, the only project currently under implementation.
The Ken–Betwa project, which spans Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, has so far seen an expenditure of Rs 3,969.79 crore out of a total budgetary provision of Rs 4,469.41 crore over the past three years.
It involves the felling of over 17,000 trees and affects more than 7,000 families, with rehabilitation being handled by state authorities under the 2013 Land Acquisition and R&R Act.
