The Ken-Betwa River Interlinking Project (KBLP) is a major infrastructure scheme and the first inter-basin water transfer project to be implemented under India's decades-old National Perspective Plan (NPP) for river interlinking, which was first articulated in 1980 by the Ministry of Irrigation. The project's core purpose is to transfer "surplus" water from the Ken River basin to the water-deficit Betwa River basin, both tributaries of the Yamuna, to address the chronic drought and water scarcity in the Bundelkhand region, which straddles Madhya Pradesh (MP) and Uttar Pradesh (UP).
The mechanism centers on the construction of the Daudhan Dam, a roughly 77-meter-high structure on the Ken River in MP's Panna district, designed to impound water. This impounded water will then be conveyed through a 221-kilometre Ken-Betwa Link Canal, along with tunnels and powerhouses, to the Betwa River. The project is structured in two phases, with Phase I comprising the Daudhan Dam and the link canal. The scheme is designed to provide annual irrigation to approximately 1.06 million hectares and supply drinking water to about 6.2 million people across both states, while also generating 103 MW of hydropower.
The KBLP was formally launched after a tripartite Memorandum of Agreement was signed on March 22, 2021, by the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti and the Chief Ministers of MP and UP. The Union Cabinet approved central funding for the project in December 2021, with an estimated cost of ₹44,605 crore. The project connects directly to the National Water Development Agency (NWDA), established in 1982 to conduct feasibility studies for the NPP. A significant recent change is the advancement of construction at the Daudhan dam site, despite ongoing concerns regarding the submergence of forest land within the Panna Tiger Reserve and the displacement of Project Affected Families (PAFs).