On Tuesday, Union finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, in her Budget speech, said that the Ken-Betwa rivers link will be finally completed with a cost of approximately Rs 44,605 crore.The draft Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) of the five river links have been finalised by the Center.
The Minister said the draft Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) of the five river links, such as Godavari-Krishna, Damanganga-Pinjal, Pennar-Cauvery, Par-Tapi-Narmada, and Krishna-Pennar have now been finalised. The Ken-Betwa river linking project has its focus on providing irrigation benefits. While presenting the Budget 2022-23, the minister said that the benefits would be provided to farmers land of 9.08 lakh hectares, supply of drinking water for 62 lakh people, 103 MW of Hydropower, and 27 MW of solar power. The Ken-Betwa river linking project has been allocated Rs 4,300 crore in RE 2021-22 and Rs 1,400 crore in budget 2022-23. After the completion of the agreement within the beneficiary states, the support for proper implementation will be provided by the Center. Image Source