Gujarat has proposed obtaining additional water from the Narmada project by supplying electricity to Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, as parts of Saurashtra and Kutch face scarcity. The proposal received in-principle agreement from the three partner states at a Review Committee of the Narmada Control Authority meeting held in Delhi on Tuesday, although the additional water allocation and electricity compensation have not yet been finalised.
The meeting was chaired by Union Jal Shakti minister C R Paatil and attended by Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel and the chief ministers of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. A highly placed Gujarat government source said the state had made a formal proposal to the three participating states and that the details of the exchange would be worked out soon.
Under the existing agreement, Gujarat is allocated 9 million acre-feet of Narmada water. The proposed arrangement would allow the state to seek an increase in that allocation while compensating the other beneficiary states with electricity. The source did not specify how much additional water Gujarat has requested or the volume and value of power it would provide in return.
The proposal comes as Gujarat seeks to manage water availability in Saurashtra and Kutch, where the Narmada project is a key source for irrigation and drinking water supply. Any change to the state’s allocation would require coordination among the Centre and the four participating states because the project’s water distribution and related issues are governed through the Narmada Control Authority framework.
The committee also approved a memorandum of agreement reached among the participating states at its previous meeting in July 2026. The approval marks progress on long-pending issues linked to the Narmada project, according to the government account of the meeting. The committee adopted a conciliatory approach to other outstanding matters, with the states agreeing to pursue resolution through dialogue and mutual cooperation.
For Gujarat, the Narmada is connected not only to irrigation but also to drinking water supply and regional development. The state government said resolving inter-state issues was important for ensuring effective use of the river’s water resources and strengthening coordination among the project’s beneficiary states.
Gujarat chief secretary M K Das joined the meeting through video conferencing. Additional principal secretary to the chief minister Vikrant Pandey and other senior officials also participated alongside Patel. The next steps are the negotiations over the additional quantity of Narmada water and the electricity compensation to be offered to the partner states.
