Estimating Efficiency of Public
Investment in Irrigation at the State
Level in India
Seema Bathla, Elumalai Kannan, Gautam Kumar Das
and Roopali Aggarwal
Abstract An attempt is made to measure the relative efficiency of public investment in irrigation across major states in India from 1981–82 to 2015–16. We find a
sizeable increase in public expenditure on irrigation and improvement in capital
intensity in the last one decade. However, agriculture continues to receive a low
priority in the public policy vis-à-vis its importance in the national economy. Also,
an upturn in capital and revenue expenditure does not commensurate with an
increase in the irrigation intensity, reflecting considerable inefficiencies. On
an average, public canals have operated at about 59% technical efficiency in recent
years, although levels vary widely from 9.6% in Andhra Pradesh to 100% each in
Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal. The inefficiency is largely
due to capital expenditure, which needs to be utilised properly through faster
completion of projects. Low efficiency scores may also suggest that public irrigation is not well placed, suggesting need for its better management and to explore
potential for other sources of irrigation.
Keywords Public irrigation expenditure Á Investment Á Agriculture orientation
index Á Technical efficiency Á Canal irrigated area
1 Introduction
Irrigation has played a significant role in the development of agriculture in India. It
has acted as a catalyst in encouraging the use of improved seeds and fertilisers and
increasing private investment in agriculture. The government has always put
intensive focus on the development of networks of canals across states through
This paper is drawn from an ICAR sponsored research project—Irrigation Investments,
Governance and Agricultural Outcomes: A State Level Analysis, submitted to the ICAR-NIAP,
New Delhi, 2020 (unpublished). The authors are grateful to Dr. Suresh Pal for critical comments.
S. Bathla (&) Á E. Kannan Á G. K. Das Á R. Aggarwal
Centre for the Study of Regional Development, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi,
India
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
G. Chadha and A. B. Pandya (eds.), Water Governance and Management in India,
Water Resources Development and Management,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-1472-9_3
45
Investment in Irrigation at the State
Level in India
Seema Bathla, Elumalai Kannan, Gautam Kumar Das
and Roopali Aggarwal
Abstract An attempt is made to measure the relative efficiency of public investment in irrigation across major states in India from 1981–82 to 2015–16. We find a
sizeable increase in public expenditure on irrigation and improvement in capital
intensity in the last one decade. However, agriculture continues to receive a low
priority in the public policy vis-à-vis its importance in the national economy. Also,
an upturn in capital and revenue expenditure does not commensurate with an
increase in the irrigation intensity, reflecting considerable inefficiencies. On
an average, public canals have operated at about 59% technical efficiency in recent
years, although levels vary widely from 9.6% in Andhra Pradesh to 100% each in
Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal. The inefficiency is largely
due to capital expenditure, which needs to be utilised properly through faster
completion of projects. Low efficiency scores may also suggest that public irrigation is not well placed, suggesting need for its better management and to explore
potential for other sources of irrigation.
Keywords Public irrigation expenditure Á Investment Á Agriculture orientation
index Á Technical efficiency Á Canal irrigated area
1 Introduction
Irrigation has played a significant role in the development of agriculture in India. It
has acted as a catalyst in encouraging the use of improved seeds and fertilisers and
increasing private investment in agriculture. The government has always put
intensive focus on the development of networks of canals across states through
This paper is drawn from an ICAR sponsored research project—Irrigation Investments,
Governance and Agricultural Outcomes: A State Level Analysis, submitted to the ICAR-NIAP,
New Delhi, 2020 (unpublished). The authors are grateful to Dr. Suresh Pal for critical comments.
S. Bathla (&) Á E. Kannan Á G. K. Das Á R. Aggarwal
Centre for the Study of Regional Development, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi,
India
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
G. Chadha and A. B. Pandya (eds.), Water Governance and Management in India,
Water Resources Development and Management,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-1472-9_3
45