The Finance Minister, Shri Arun Jaitley has proposed to set up an Integrated Ganga Conservation Mission called (Namami Gange). The Finance Minister, Shri Jaitley, in his maiden Budget Speech in the Parliament here today said that an amount of ₹ 2037 crore has been set aside for the Mission in the current Budget. Shri Jaitley said that the Mission is being launched because a substantial amount of money has been spent in the conservation and improvement of the river Ganga but the efforts have not yielded desired results because of the lack of concerted effort by all the stakeholders. To harness the enthusiasm of the NRI Community to contribute towards the conservation of the river Ganga, an NRI Fund for Ganga will be set up which will finance special projects, the Finance Minister added.

The Finance Minister has also set aside a sum of ₹ 100 crore for Ghat development and beautification of river front at Kedarnath, Haridwar, Kanpur, Varanasi, Allahabad, Patna and Delhi in the current financial year since Riverfronts and Ghats are not only places of rich historical heritage but many of these are also sacred.

The Budget also contains the first ever effort to link the rivers across the country. The Finance Minister has set aside a sum of ₹ 100 crore in the current Budget to expedite the preparation of Detailed Project Reports as a serious move in this direction.

Integrated Ganga Conservation Mission launched to fund riverfront development, NRI contributions and river link project reports. An integrated river conservation and funding initiative establishes the Integrated Ganga Conservation Mission (Namami Gange) with budgetary allocations to consolidate stakeholder efforts, create an NRI Fund for Ganga to finance special projects, provide funds for Ghat development and riverfront beautification at selected historic and sacred locations, and set aside resources to prepare Detailed Project Reports to advance a national river linking planning effort.