New Delhi, May 08, 2015: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India signed here today a $31 million loan to boost water availability in selected river basins in Karnataka through implementation of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and improved water efficiency in irrigation.
The loan is the first tranche of the US $ 150 million Karnataka Integrated and Sustainable Water Resources Management Investment Program approved by ADB in 2014. The program will improve irrigation efficiency in three river basins in the state, saving 1,700 million cubic meters of water that could be used on an additional 160,000 hectares of farmland. Farming this additional land could increase farm incomes by about 50% and benefit about 1.5 million people.
Shri Raj Kumar, Joint Secretary (Multilateral Institutions), Department of Economic Affairs, in the Ministry of Finance, who signed the agreement on behalf of Government of India said that Karnataka is water-stressed, with increasing demand from urban and industrial sectors. The investment program will improve water availability to meet competing water demand in selected river basins.
