The Government of India and the World Bank recently signed a US$ 178.5 million credit for the Neeranchal National Watershed Project to provide farms and rural, rain fed areas in India with access to global best practices in watershed management. The project is anticipated to directly benefit at least two million people in nine states and aims to strengthen the capacity of national and state institutions currently implementing watershed programs in India for more effective planning, implementation, and monitoring.

The Neeranchal project also will provide key support for improving the implementation effectiveness of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY), the Government of India’s scheme to achieve convergence of investments in irrigation at the field level. By supporting the watershed component of PMKSY, the project will help enhance physical access of water on farms, expand cultivable areas under assured irrigation, improve on-farm water use efficiency, and increase the adoption of precision-irrigation and other water saving technologies.