CHANDIGARH: The Punjab government has demanded an outstanding Rs 1.44 lakh crore in water royalty from Rajasthan for water supplied for irrigation and drinking. It has warned that legal action may follow if the dues remain unpaid.
Despite repeated reminders from Punjab, including letters sent on March 18 and May 4, Rajasthan has not paid the royalty for river water used between 1961 and 2025, a letter exchanged between the authorities of both the states showed.
The premise of the issue goes back to 1920, when the rulers of Bikaner in Rajasthan, Bahawalpur (now in Pakistan), and Punjab signed a water-sharing agreement in Shimla.
Rajasthan had paid royalty until the Indus Waters Treaty was signed in 1960. At the time, Bikaner was charged Rs 6.50 per acre annually for water supplied through Punjab’s rivers.
Sources said dues at the current rate of Rs 141.20 per acre per annum have been calculated by the state government, and royalty is claimed for an average of 10 million acre-feet, along with 8 per cent interest.
Punjab has also billed Haryana Rs 281.78 crore from the Bhakra Main Line Division in Patiala, and Rs 30.80 crore from the Mansa Division. But Haryana, too, has not paid for canal maintenance since 2015-16.
The Bhakra Canal allocation is 12,455 cusecs, of which Haryana has a share of 63 per cent, Punjab 25 per cent, Rajasthan 7 per cent, Delhi 4 per cent and Chandigarh 1 per cent. Thus, in a separate letter, Punjab Chief Secretary KAP Sinha has written to his Haryana counterpart Anurag Rastogi, seeking Rs 312.59 crore owed to Punjab for the operation and maintenance of common carrier channels in the canal.
Punjab Water Resources Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal said the state government has calculated royalty as per applicable rates and has twice written to Rajasthan, but till date has not received a response. He said, “If Rajasthan fails to pay royalty, we will take legal action as per norms.”
In March this year, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had announced plans to recover unpaid water royalty dues from the Rajasthan government under a 1920 tripartite agreement.