Maha needs Rs 80,000 crore for pending irrigation projects

Maharashtra government today it needs around Rs 80,000 crore to complete all irrigation projects in the state.
"To complete all the projects, we will need at least Rs 70,000-80,000 crore. We plan to raise Rs 20,000 crore annually over the next four years so that funds can be made available to complete these projects," Water Resources minister Girish Mahajan said while replying to a discussion on budget expenditure for the department in the assembly.
"We are in talks with JICA and other financial institutions to raise loans for the irrigation projects," he said.
He said the government had budgeted only Rs 7,272 crore, which was insufficient to complete all the projects.

There are around 800 incomplete irrigation projects in Maharashtra. The department has identified 90 last-mile projects, which are 75 per cent complete, but work cannot proceed further as there are no funds, the minister said.