File photo/Agencies NEW DELHI: Voicing concern over poor utilisation of funds, a parliamentary panel has said the department of water resource, river development and Ganga rejuvenation, utilised only around 58 per cent of the revised allocation of Rs 21,640.88 crore for 2024-25 by the end of December 2024. The panel urged the Jal Shakti ministry to strengthen monitoring and implementation mechanisms.
In its report tabled in Parliament, the Standing Committee on Water Resources said nearly 40 per cent of the allocated funds remained unspent and highlighted delays in fund disbursal and project execution. The ministry has attributed the low spending to the fact that expenditure typically picks up after the monsoon season and assured the panel that pending proposals worth Rs 3,000 crore were under active consideration. The report highlighted significant increases in budgetary allocations for key schemes under the Jal Shakti ministry.
The total budget for the department has been raised to Rs 25,276.83 crore for 2025-26, an 18.54 per cent increase from the Rs 21,323.
10 crore allocated in the previous year. The rise is driven largely by higher allocations for groundwater management, river basin development, and the Polavaram Irrigation Project . The allocation for groundwater management and regulation has increased by 56.
61 per cent to Rs 509 crore in 2025-26, reflecting the government's push to strengthen groundwater mapping and management under the National Aquifer Mapping and Man.
