RIVER INTERLINKING: A LONG TERM OPPORTUNITY AHEAD

With river-interlinking unlocking a ₹80,000 crore opportunity in near-term, India's infrastructure and OEM players are set for a decade-long project pipeline.

- By Team CW

India's renewed push on water security has turned what was once a long-gestation policy idea into a visible pipeline of capital projects.

The National River Linking Project (NRLP), anchored in the National Perspective Plan framed in 1980, has moved decisively from studies to execution with the ceremonial start of the Ken-Betwa Link Project in December 2024. The Prime Minister laid the foundation stone at Khajuraho, marking the first large inter-basin transfer to enter construction under the national programme. Official sources confirm that the Ken–Betwa link alone entails a 221-km canal, the Daudhan dam complex and associated tunnels and powerhouses, with a sanctioned cost of about ₹44,605 crore and targeted benefits of irrigation for over 10 lakh hectares, drinking water for more than 60 lakh people and hydropower generation of over 100 MW.

Beyond this pathfinder, the Ministry of Jal Shakti and the National Water Development Agency (NWDA) have identified 30 links—14 in the Himalayan component and 16 in the peninsular component. Pre-feasibility studies are complete for all 30, feasibility reports for 26 and detailed project reports for 13 links according to recent data. Government disclosures and independent trackers put the long-term capital requirement for the full programme at around ₹5.5 lakh crore, with industry-facing EPC and construction opportunities estimated between ₹2 lakh crore to ₹2.6 lakh crore over the next decade.

For contractors and equipment makers, this is not just another irrigation cycle. These are multiyear, multi-package corridors that combine heavy civil works, long-distance conveyance, tunnelling, pumping and power infrastructure, and extensive rehabilitation and environmental mitigation. The five industry players interviewed by Construction Week see this as one of the most consequential infrastructure opportunities of the coming decade, albeit one layered with political, environmental and execution risk.