Irrigation projects have Rs 1.2-trn cost overruns - that's worth 72 Rafales

Rs 1.2 trn cost overruns in irrigation projects. That's worth 72 Rafales

In the decade to 2017, when India was hit by five droughts, only a quarter of centrally funded major to medium irrigation schemes, covering area more than 2,000 hectares of land, were completed, as per the January 2019 audit report of the government’s accelerated irrigation benefit programme (AIBP).

Of the centrally funded minor irrigation projects, 64% were completed in these ten years. AIBP was launched more than two decades ago as a central assistance programme for large incomplete projects that could not be funded by states.

The reasons for the