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State cabinet gives nod for 57 irrigation projects and 193 canal works worth Rs 15,000 crore
The project for will bring eight lakh hectares of land under irrigation.
The completion of all these irrigation projects will bring eight lakh hectares of land under irrigation facilities. (Image generated using Google Gemini)
The state cabinet on Tuesday approved a long-term loan of Rs 15,000 crore from National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development to complete 57 irrigation projects in the state and rebuild 193 existing canals which are in a poor condition.
The completion of all these irrigation projects will bring eight lakh hectares of land under irrigation facilities and provide major relief to the farmers in the state. The revised estimate has been given approval at the cabinet meeting on Tuesday. The meeting was chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
The water resources department will be able to expedite the ongoing work and complete 57 irrigation projects within the timeline using the funds. Along with these projects, 193 canals of existing and old irrigation projects will be repaired and reconstructed.
Fadnavis said, “The approval for NABARD loan was necessitated to complete ongoing projects which were already in various phases of completion.” More importantly, he said, “The approval of work in 193 canals which are not operational would go a long way in maximising the potential of the irrigation projects.”
In many cases, the existing irrigation projects are not working to its optimum because of bad or broken canals, he said.
The chief minister said, “If we were to take up new irrigation projects to bring eight lakh hectares of land under irrigation, it would require Rs one lakh crore. Instead to minimise the expenditure and maximise the potential of the existing infrastructure, we have given the approval for Rs 15,000 crore loan from NABARD,” he said.
Out of the total Rs 15,000 crore loan, Rs 8,972 crore will be utilised for completing 57 irrigation projects. Whereas, Rs 6,017 lakh will be used for canal work in the completed irrigation projects.
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