CHENNAI, 14 July 2025: The Tamil Nadu Irrigated Agriculture Modernisation Project (TNIAMP), a World Bank-supported initiative aimed at enhancing climate-resilient agriculture and water management, has received a six-month extension. Initially scheduled to conclude on June 2, the project will now continue until December 2, 2025.
According to a government order (G.O.) issued by J. Jayakanthan, Secretary, Water Resources Department (WRD), the decision to extend the project followed significant setbacks caused by Cyclone Michaung in December 2023, which damaged several irrigation structures constructed under the initiative.
In response to the cyclone, the World Bank activated its Contingency Emergency Response Component (CERC) and sanctioned INR 449.59 crore to repair the damage. Based on this, the Empowered Committee of Tamil Nadu approved the extension till May 31, 2026, and a proposal was forwarded to the Department of Economic Affairs, which recommended the revised end date of December 2, 2025.
Launched in 2017 with an initial outlay of INR 2,962 crore for a seven-year period, the project’s budget was later revised to INR 3,249 crore during a mid-term review in 2021. The primary objectives include improving agricultural productivity, strengthening water resource management, and increasing market linkages for farmers and agro-entrepreneurs in select regions.
“The project is focused on improving climate resilience, water use efficiency, and enabling sustainable livelihoods in irrigated agriculture,” a senior WRD official said.
Implemented across 47 sub-basins in four phases, the TNIAMP involves the WRD and six other departments, alongside three state universities, covering a total command area of 4.69 lakh hectares.
As of now, rehabilitation of 2,473 irrigation tanks, 344 anicuts, and 4,879 km of rivers and canals has been completed. Additionally, 78 artificial recharge wells have been constructed under the initiative.
Officials expressed optimism that the extension will allow for the timely completion of remaining components and further consolidation of the gains achieved so far.
Image credit: tnau.ac.in
