In the presence of Union Home Minister and Union Jal Shakti Minister, CMs of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi and Haryana signed the Kishau Multipurpose Project agreement

15 September 2026, Delhi: In the presence of Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah and Union Jal Shakti Minister Shri C. R. Patil, the Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh Shri Yogi Adityanath, Uttarakhand Shri Pushkar Singh Dhami, Himachal Pradesh Shri Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Rajasthan Shri Bhajan Lal Sharma, Delhi Smt. Rekha Gupta, and Haryana Shri Nayab Singh Saini today signed the Kishau Multipurpose Project agreement. On this occasion, the Union Home Secretary, the Secretary of the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, and the Chief Secretaries of the concerned states were also present.

Addressing the meeting, Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah said that today we have witnessed a historic agreement. He expressed confidence that once the project is completed, this event will become an important chapter in history. He said that the agreement reached today will benefit Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi in one way or another. Shri Shah said that the most important aspect is that all six states have given their consent and signed the agreement. Union Home Minister congratulated the Chief Ministers of all six states and Union Minister for Jal Shakti Shri C. R. Patil for playing an important role in bringing the project to this stage. He said that the Government of India and the Chief Ministers of these six states of the Yamuna basin are committed to completing the project at the earliest.

Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah said that since Shri Narendra Modi became Prime Minister, this is the tenth water dispute that is now set to be resolved. He said that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, an initiative has been undertaken to resolve serious disputes that had continued for the past fifty years. He said that first, in August 2018, the dispute over the Lakhwar Multipurpose Project was resolved. In the same month, the dispute over the Shahpur Kandi Dam Project was settled. In 2019, the dispute over the Renukaji Multipurpose Dam Project in the Upper Yamuna Basin was resolved. In 2021, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh reached an agreement on the Ken-Betwa Link Project, benefiting the water-stressed region of Bundelkhand. The revised Parbati-Kalisindh-Chambal River Link project moved forward in 2024. The scheme for transferring water from Hathinikund to the Yamuna through an underground pipeline was approved in February 2024. The dispute over the rehabilitation of families displaced by the Narmada Project was resolved in July 2026. The dispute over water sharing between Bihar and Jharkhand in the Son Basin was settled in August 2026 and today, finally, an agreement has been reached on the Kishau Multipurpose Project.

Shri Amit Shah said that the period from 2018 to 2026, under the leadership of Modi Ji, will be remembered as a period in which almost all water disputes, from Kashmir to Uttar Pradesh, were resolved. He said that the foundation for these resolutions was laid in meetings of the Zonal Councils and the Ministry of Jal Shakti efficiently took these agreements forward. He said that after becoming Minister of Jal Shakti, Shri C. R. Patil took upon himself the responsibility of resolving long-pending disputes. He took initiatives at every level and, wherever assistance was required whether it was activating the Inter-State Council or involving the Ministry of Home Affairs, ensured that the task was brought to its conclusion.

Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah said that with regard to the Kishau Multipurpose Project, an agreement was reached on 12 May 1994 that separate agreements would be entered into for each storage project coming up in the basin. Without that arrangement, this would not have been possible. Subsequently, after the disputes concerning the Lakhwar and Renukaji projects were resolved in 2019, work on Kishau moved forward. Formal agreement on the project was reached on 16 June this year. The Ministry of Jal Shakti took the matter forward and after securing the consent of all the states, while considering the technical and economic aspects and safeguarding the interests of all the states, brought the matter to a resolution.

Union Home Minister said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the Government of India has declared the Kishau Multipurpose Project a National Project. The Government of India will bear approximately 90 per cent of its financial burden, while the remaining 10 per cent will be borne by the participating states in accordance with the 1994 agreement. He said that the Government of Uttarakhand had certain difficulties. On behalf of the Government of India, we have assured them that efforts will be made to accommodate their demands under the schemes of the Government of India, and going forward, we will also assist Uttarakhand in bearing the financial burden that may fall upon the state.

Shri Amit Shah said that a 232.6-metre-high concrete gravity dam will be constructed on the Tons River, which flows along the border of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, with a water storage capacity of 1,562 million cubic metres. It will irrigate 97,000 hectares of land and generate 1,476 million units of clean hydropower. He said that Delhi will be the biggest beneficiary of the project.

Union Home Minister said that when the waters of the Yamuna were allocated, there was a serious lapse on the part of policymakers. The environmental flow of the Yamuna was not calculated at all, and all the available water was distributed among the states. No water was left for the river itself. He said that 25 per cent of the water will become available through the Kishau Multipurpose Project Agreement, which will prove extremely beneficial for both Delhi and the Yamuna. It will also contribute to environmental conservation.

Shri Amit Shah said that ever since Smt. Rekha Gupta became the Chief Minister of Delhi, continuous work has been underway under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership to clean the Yamuna. He expressed confidence that we will be able to achieve the goal of a clean Yamuna by 2029. When the Yamuna becomes clean, the Ganga also becomes clean, because ultimately the Yamuna merges with the Ganga at Prayagraj. He said that until the dream of cleaning the Yamuna is fulfilled, the dream of a clean Ganga will also remain incomplete.

Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah said that the Chief Minister of Delhi and all concerned stakeholders are moving forward with full cooperation and dedication towards making the Yamuna clean. He said that today’s success is an excellent example of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s guiding mantra of “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas and Sabka Prayas” and the core mantra of Team India. It also reflects the vision of India in which everyone moves forward together. He expressed confidence that just as all the parties worked with a common purpose and in the same direction to reach this agreement, all the states will similarly work in one direction to complete the project. This will enable us to clean the Yamuna at the earliest and provide crores of people with water for drinking, agriculture, development and industrial use.