Kaleshwaram project boosts Telangana's rural economy and employment

Hyderabad: Once criticised as overambitious and unviable, the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP) emerged as a game-changer for Telangana’s rural economy.

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Commissioned on June 21, 2019, the world’s largest multi-stage lift irrigation project significantly expanded irrigation coverage, catalysing growth in agriculture, allied sectors, and rural employment. Telangana’s net irrigated area, which stood at 19.5 lakh acres in 2014, crossed 45 lakh acres by 2023, powered by the lifting of nearly 850 TMC of water through an extensive network of pump houses, tunnels, and canals. Key installations at Medigadda, Annaram, Sundilla, Lakshmi, Saraswati, and Parvathi pumping stations delivered water to drought-prone zones in northern and central Telangana. Districts such as Jayashankar Bhupalpally, Siddipet, Karimnagar, and Rajanna Sircilla saw a 60 per cent reduction in borewell dependency. Paddy acreage expanded rap