Announcements

Back to Close to half of gross cropped area has no irrigation

Sub-problem

Major irrigation projects prioritised for completion by December 2019 were still being built in 2020

  • National
  • State

In 2016-17, 99 ongoing major and medium irrigation projects under PMKSY–AIBP, with an ultimate irrigation potential of 76.03 lakh hectares and a balance cost of ₹77,595 crore, were prioritised for completion in phases up to December 2019. In September 2020 the Ministry of Agriculture told the Rajya Sabha that 41.39 lakh hectares of potential had been created up to March 2016 and a further 21.33 lakh hectares during 2016-20 — about 62.7 lakh hectares in all, short of the 76.03 lakh hectare total. In July 2025 the Ministry of Jal Shakti described land acquisition as one of the major bottlenecks in irrigation projects. How many of the 99 projects are complete today is not established here. Evidence confidence: High that the 2019 target was missed; current status unverified.

This is the most specific entry on this branch of the catalogue. The evidence behind it is below.

Who is responsible

  • Ministry of Jal Shakti — Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation · Ministry or DepartmentAdministers the Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme.
  • State Water Resources and Irrigation Departments · State GovernmentExecute the projects, including land acquisition.

Evidence and sources

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