Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced in her Budget speech on February 1 that the implementation of the Ken-Betwa river linking project at a sum of Rs 44, 605 crore will be taken up.
The project in drought-prone region of Bundelkhand, spread across 13 districts in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh and neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, is expected to benefit more than 9 lakh hectare farmland.
"Implementation of Ken Betwa Linking project at estimated cost of Rs 44,605 Crore to be taken up with irrigation benefits to nine lakh hectare farmland," Sitharaman said. A budget of Rs 1,400 crores has been allocated for the project in 2022-23, the FM said.
The project is expected to provide drinking water supply to about 62 lakh people besides generating 103 MW of hydropower and 27 MW solar power, the Finance Minister said.
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Five more river-linking projects are under process and the detailed project reports (DPRs) have been prepared for them, the FM said.
The Union Cabinet had had on December 8 approved the funding and implementation of the project with a total cost of Rs 44,605 crore to be completed in eight years.
"The Project will be of immense benefit to the water starved Bundelkhand region, spread across the states of MP and UP. This project will provide enormous benefits to the districts of Panna, Tikamgarh, Chhatarpur, Sagar, Damoh, Datia, Vidisha, Shivpuri and Raisen of Madhya Pradesh and Banda, Mahoba, Jhansi and Lalitpur of Uttar Pradesh," the government said after the Cabinet nod on December 8.
This is the first project under the Union government's National Perspective Plan for interlinking of rivers. The ambitious project envisages transferring water from the Ken river to the Betwa river, both tributaries of the Yamuna, through the construction of Daudhan Dam and a canal linking the two rivers. The Canal will be 221 km long, including a 2-km long tunnel.
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On March 22, a memorandum of agreement was signed by the Ministry of Jal Shakti and the governments of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh to implement the project.
The project is expected to boost socio-economic prosperity in the backward Bundelkhand region on account of increased agricultural activities and employment generation, the government said.
"It would also help in arresting distress migration from this region," it said.
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