Union Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari on 8 September 2017 said the Union Government will provide up to Rs 60000 crore to Maharashtra in the next two years for river-linking and irrigation projects to tackle the recurring water crisis.

Talking to reporters after a review meeting with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and state officials in Mumbai, Gadkari said the dispute between Maharashtra and Gujarat over sharing of water in Nar-Par-Tapi-Narmada Basin will also be resolved soon and a memorandum of understanding will be signed between the two states next week.

He said of the three river-linking projects undertaken, two are in Maharashtra. These are worth Rs 20000 crore. Gadkari said, “We hope to start work on these projects over the next three months and hope to complete them in two years."

He also said that Fadnavis has proposed four more river-linking projects worth Rs 10000 crore to which his ministry had given in-principle approval. These projects are: Damanganga-Godavari, Damanganga- Vaitarna-Godavari, Par-Godavari and Nar-Par-Girna rivers.

He said apart from the river-linking projects, the Centre has, under the PM's irrigation project (PMKSY), approved 26 irrigation projects in the state.