World Bank : Government of India and World Bank sign US$ 178.50 Million Agreement for Neeranchal National Watershed Project

The project will directly benefit at least two million people in nine states

NEW DELHI, January 14, 2016 - The Government of India and the World Bank today signed a US$ 178.50 million credit for the Neeranchal National Watershed Projectto improve watershed management in rural rain fed areas. The project builds on a longstanding partnership between the World Bank and Government of India around watershed management.

The credit agreement for the projectwas signed by Raj Kumar, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs on behalf of the Government of India and Onno Ruhl, World Bank Country Director, India on behalf of the World Bank.

Today, watershed development is critical to India's development as vast stretches of agricultural land are in rain fed regions, characterized by extensive land degradation, low rainfall, reduced agricultural productivity, and higher rates of poverty.

'Theproject will help farmers adopt new soil, water and crop management techniques to increase vegetative cover, reduce soil erosion, and improve agricultural yields. It will facilitate access to real time weather forecasts and help farmers adopt climate smart agricultural practices to mitigate against climate change impacts. It will also improve rural livelihoods through training, better extension services, and strengthened forward linkages to markets,' said Raj Kumar, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India.

The project will be implemented over a six-year period and will support the watershed component of the newly launched Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY) led by Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare in close partnership with the Ministries of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation and Rural Development. It will also strengthen the capacity of the key national and state level institutions implementing the watershed component on PMKSY, including the central Department of Land Resources (DoLR) and the State Level Nodal Agencies (SLNAs) for more effective planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of their programs. It will support the preparation of integrated science-based, participatory watershed plans with a greater focus on water management. These plans will guide investments to improve more efficient use of water for agriculture, recharge local groundwater, and enhance the convergence of various programs in order to ensure more effective use of public resources.

'Efficient watershed management will help increase agricultural production in rain fed areas, lead to better use of scarce water resources and raise household incomes of farmers', said Onno Ruhl, World Bank Country Director for India. 'For over three decades, the Bank has been working on standalone watershed operations. This project is a huge opportunity for the Bank to help the government in its efforts to improve the outcomes of the national PMKSY scheme, which forms the cornerstone of the government's support to watershed development in India.'

The project signed today will support the watershed activities of the PMKSY in selected sites in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Rajasthan. It will cover about 400 sub-watersheds of about 5,000 ha each and reach approximately 482,000 farmer households and two million people.

'The Neeranchal Project will support PMKSY to improve watershed management practices and demonstrate measurable results in selected sub-watersheds. It will introduce new hydrological approaches and innovative tools for community participation with a more integrated watershed planning process, pilot new field practices that will improve conservation outcomes, water availability, agricultural yields and climate resilience, and scale up a more effective monitoring and evaluation system to track performance,' said Grant Milne, Senior Natural Resources Management Specialist and Priti Kumar, Senior Environmental Specialist and World Bank's Task Team Leaders for the project.

The credit is from the International Development Association (IDA) - the World Bank's concessionary lending arm with a maturity of 25 years, including a 5 year grace period.