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Bhubaneswar: Odisha government today entered into an agreement with Larsen and Toubro for setting up 28 mega lift irrigation schemes with an investment of Rs 647 crore, official sources said.
An agreement between the state's water resources department and L&T's cluster division was signed here in the presence of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
"The initiative will help irrigate about 35,450 hectares of agricultural land in drought prone districts of Kalahandi, Bolangir, Boudh and Subarnapur," Patnaik said.
The Chief Minister said the scheme will be commissioned in 30 months and L&T has been awarded contract for operation and maintenance for five years after completion.
The state government has proposed to cover command area of about 2.14 lakh hectare, Water Resources Secretary Suresh Mohapatra said, adding that L&T has been awarded contract in the first phase.
"We have set up similar projects in different states like Gujarat," said K Seshasai, Cluster Head and DGM, L&T.
"The bidding for the balance three clusters of phase I consisting 40 schemes having cultivable command area of about 50,000 hectares will be made in next two phases," Mohapatra said.
Mega lift schemes are primarily aimed for supplementing water demand in the kharif in upland command areas of respective schemes. Irrigation in Rabi season will be provided only on availability of water and the crop planning would be duly approved by district authorities, he added.
A total of 174 lift schemes have been identified and grouped in 15 clusters, he said, adding provision of Rs 200 crore has already been made in the state budget outlay in this fiscal for execution of mega lift schemes.
