National Project
Also called: National Projects scheme, National Project 90:10 funding · Topic: Water Resources of India: Availability, Use and Conservation · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
A National Project is a large irrigation or multipurpose river project that the Centre picks out for special funding. A multipurpose river project is one that serves several uses at once, such as irrigation, drinking water and hydropower. Once a project is declared national, the Centre pays 90% of the cost of its water component (the irrigation and drinking-water part), and the states pay the remaining 10%. The power part is not covered by this split. The states that get the electricity share that cost among themselves. This matters because such projects are too costly for states to build alone, and many of them serve more than one state.
Example
The Kishau dam is planned on the Tons river, a tributary of the Yamuna, on the Uttarakhand–Himachal Pradesh border. It has been declared a National Project, so the Centre bears 90% of its water-component cost. Its power cost is split 50:50 between Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The Polavaram project on the Godavari in Andhra Pradesh is another National Project.
Don't confuse with
- Multipurpose river project: this describes what a project does, such as irrigation, power and flood control. "National Project" describes how it is funded. A multipurpose project becomes a National Project only after the Centre declares it one.