Bihar government: Following an agreement between the state and Jharkhand to share water for agriculture, power plants, and other uses, the Bihar cabinet cleared the way on Tuesday for the building of the Indrapuri reservoir project.

At a post-cabinet briefing, Cabinet Secretariat Department Additional Chief Secretary Arvind Kumar Chaudhary informed journalists that the cabinet approved the Water Resources Department’s proposal and approved a “draft agreement” (MoU) between Bihar and Jharkhand.

According to him, the Central Water Commission’s approval of the draft agreement led to the decision.

He went on to say that the Indrapuri Reservoir Project would improve irrigation systems on farms in eight districts: Patna, Gaya Ji, Arwal, Aurangabad, Bhojpur, Buxar, Rohtas, and Kaimur.

Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar signed the Ban Sagar agreement in 1973 to share the water of the Sone River.

According to the agreement, undivided Bihar was supposed to receive 7.75 million acres (MAF) of water. However, ACS stated that after Bihar was split up in 2000, Jharkhand demanded its share of water from the Sone River and refused to approve the Indrapuri reservoir project because of this demand.

At the 27th Eastern Regional Conference, which took place in Ranchi on July 10, 2025, the problem that had delayed the project for years was fixed. Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary and Water Resources Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary expressed Bihar’s stance to address the matter in a forceful and efficient manner at the meeting, which was headed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

According to ACS, Bihar would get 5.75 MAF of water out of the undivided state’s allocation of 7.75 MAF, while Jharkhand will receive 2.0 MAF.