The Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR) said that Inter-linking of river can be taken up as a national project. The Minister, however, clarified that no river-interlinking project under National Perspective Plan (NPP) is currently under implementation and the Project depended on the consensus and cooperation of the States and agreements with neighbouring countries. In a Rajya Sabha reply to a question by Hema Malini, Union Minister for Water Resources, Prof. Saif-ud-Din Soz said according to the selection criteria of the National Projects, approved by the Central Government, the project can be taken up as a national project. Currently, one Project for inter-linking of rivers, the Ken-Betwa has been included in the list of national project. Further, a provision of Rs 600 crore has been proposed for implementation of Ken-Betwa link as a national project The Projects are implemented according to the time scheme mentioned in the Detailed Project Report. A provision of Rs 220 crore has been made in the Eleventh Plan for preparation of pre-feasibility reports. The National Water Development Agency had been set up under the MoWR in 1982 to carry out technical studies and establish feasibility of the Project. Based on various studies, NWDA identified 30 links including 16 in peninsular and 14 under Himalayan component.