New Delhi: Voicing concern over poor utilisation of funds, a parliamentary panel has said the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, utilised only around 58 per cent of the revised allocation of Rs 21,640.88 crore for 2024-25 by the end of December 2024. The panel urged the Jal Shakti Ministry to strengthen monitoring and implementation mechanisms.

In its report tabled in Parliament, the Standing Committee on Water Resources said nearly 40 per cent of the allocated funds remained unspent and highlighted delays in fund disbursal and project execution. The ministry has attributed the low spending to the fact that expenditure typically picks up after the monsoon season and assured the panel that pending proposals worth Rs 3,000 crore were under active consideration.

The report highlighted significant increases in budgetary allocations for key schemes under the Jal Shakti ministry. The total budget for the department has been raised to Rs 25,276.83 crore for 2025-26, an 18.54 per cent increase from the Rs 21,323.10 crore allocated in the previous year. The rise is driven largely by higher allocations for groundwater management, river basin development, and the Polavaram Irrigation Project.

The allocation for groundwater management and regulation has increased by 56.61 per cent to Rs 509 crore in 2025-26, reflecting the government’s push to strengthen groundwater mapping and management under the National Aquifer Mapping and Management Programme (NAQUIM). The River Basin Management programme has also received a 56.98 per cent increase, with Rs 243 crore allocated for 2025-26. The Brahmaputra Board, which manages flood control and erosion in the northeast, is expected to take up new initiatives, including preparing master plans for 15 sub-basins.

However, some schemes have faced budget cuts. The National Hydrology Project (NHP) saw a 98 per cent reduction, from Rs 661.20 crore in 2024-25 to Rs 13 crore in 2025-26, as it is set to conclude in September 2025.

Similarly, the allocation for the Command Area Development and Water Management (CADWM) scheme has been reduced by 39.28 per cent to Rs 850 crore, following lower-than-expected expenditure in the previous year due to delayed approval of a sub-scheme. The Atal Bhujal Yojana (Atal Jal), focused on groundwater management, has been allocated Rs 1,780.40 crore for 2025-26, which marks a slight increase from Rs 1,778 crore in 2024-25. However, the scheme did face operational challenges last year due to the transition to a new fund flow model, which delayed fund disbursement.