The Ministry of Irrigation (now Ministry of Jal Shakti) proposed the National River Linking Project (NRPL) in 1980. It is an important national project that interlinks 37 rivers in India by creating 30 links. This project aims to transfer water from water surplus areas to water deficit areas and thus solving the problem of water scarcity, floods, and drought.
The NRLP has two major components:- The peninsular Component
- The Himalayan Component
The Peninsular Component
The peninsular Component of NRLP includes rivers like Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, Pennar, Cauvery, Vaig West-flowing rivers of Kerala, and Karnataka, north of Bombay, and south of Tapi, and southern tributaries of Yamuna. Out of these, water deficit and water surplus regions are identified for creating links. This component has four parts:
- Interlinking of Mahanadi - Godavari - Krishna - Palar - Pennar - Cauvery,
- Interlinking of West Flowing Rivers, North of Mumbai, and South of Tapi
- Interlinking of Ken with Chambal, and
- Diversion of some water from West Flowing Rivers
- Pre-feasibility studies of all the links have been completed.
- Feasibility study of all links has also been completed except for Bedti - Varada Link and Netravati - Hemavati Link.
- National Water Development Authority has started preparing the Detailed Project Report of Bedti - Varada Link at the request of the Government of Karnataka.
- The Karnataka Government is not in favour of taking up the Feasibility Report of Netravati - Hemavati Link because of their Yettinhole Project.
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This will help in hydropower generation and flood control in the areas concerned with this component.
In the budget speech for 2022-23, the implementation of Ken - Betwa Link with an estimated cost of ₹44,605 crores was announced. This implementation is expected to provide 9.08 lakh hectares of irrigated land, drinking water for 62 lakh people, 103 MW of hydropower, and 27 MW of solar power.
Moreover, Draft Detailed Project Reports of five links- Damanganga - Pinjal, Par - Tapi - Narmada, Godavari - Krishna, Krishna - Pennar, and Pennar - Cavery, have been finalised. Now, the consensus from the beneficiary states is awaited for their implementation.
Peninsular River Linking Projects
There is a total of 16 links proposed under the Peninsular Component of NRLP. They are:
Mahanadi - Godavari Link
Mahanadi (Manobhadra) - Godavari (Dowlaiswaram) Link
States Concerned: Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Karnataka, and Maharashtra
Status: Feasibility Report completed
Mahanadi (Bermul) - Godavari (Dowlaiswaram) Link
States Concerned: Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Karnataka, and Maharashtra
Status: Feasibility Report completed; Preparation of Detailed Project Report under Progress
Godavari (Inchampalli) - Krishna (Pulichintala) Link
States Concerned: Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Karnataka
Status: Feasibility Report completed
Godavari (Inchampalli) - Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) Link
States Concerned: Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Karnataka
Status: Feasibility Report completed; Detailed Project Report completed
Godavari (Polavaram) - Krishna (Vijayawada) Link
States Concerned: Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Karnataka
Status: Feasibility Report completed
Krishna (Almatti) - Pennar Link
States Concerned: Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Karnataka
Status: Feasibility Report completed
Krishna (Srisailam) - Pennar Link
States Concerned: Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Karnataka
Status: Feasibility Report completed
Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) - Pennar (Somasila) Link
States Concerned: Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Karnataka
Status: Feasibility Report completed; Detailed Project Report completed
Pennar (Somasila) - Cauvery (Grand Anicut) Link
States Concerned: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Puducherry
Status: Feasibility Report completed; Detailed Project Report completed
Cauvery (Kattalai) - Vaigai - Gundar Link
States Concerned: Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Puducherry
Status: Detailed Project Report completed
Ken - Betwa Link
States Concerned: Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh
Status: Detailed Project Report (Phase I, II & Comprehensive report) completed; Under Implementation
Parbati - Kalisindh - Chambal Link
Parbati - Kalisindh - Chambal Link
States Concerned: Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan (requested to be consulted during consensus building)
Status: Feasibility Report completed
Parbati - Kuno - Sindh Link
States Concerned: Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan
Status: Pre Feasibility Report completed
Par - Tapi - Narmada Link
States Concerned: Maharashtra and Gujarat
Status: Detailed Project Report completed
Damanganga- Pinjal Link
States Concerned: Maharashtra and Gujarat
Status: Detailed Project Report completed
Bedti - Varda Link
States Concerned: Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka
Status: Pre Feasibility Report completed; Draft Detailed Project Report completed
Netravati - Hemavati Link
States Concerned: Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala
Status: Pre Feasibility Report completed
Pamba - Achankovil - Vaippar Link
States Concerned: Kerala and Tamil Nadu
Status: Feasibility Report completed
Other information:
Last Updated on: November 13, 2025