The World Bank Thursday approved a 325 million dollar loan for India to fund a major water project in the populous state of Maharashtra.
Michael Carter, the bank’s country director for India, said the project would improve water supplies in the western state, home to 100 million people, particularly for farmers through better irrigation.
He said that once completed, the project should contribute to farm incomes going up by an average of half and lift 33,610 farming families above the poverty line.
“This project will contribute towards achieving the objectives of sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction through maximizing the productivity of water through the improvement of water resources management and irrigation service delivery,” Carter said in a statement.
The loan will fund institutional reforms to better manage the state’s water supply, modernize irrigation schemes covering about 670,000 hectaresmillion acres) of farmland, and support groundwater management.
Maharashtra is India’s second-largest state and has its third-largest population, 80 percent of whom depend on farming for their livelihoods.
