Jaipur, Dec. 29 -- The Rajasthan government has proposed the inclusion of 12 new irrigation projects in the Parvati-Kalisindh-Chambal (PKC) Link Project, a major interlinking of rivers initiative, to expand irrigation coverage in the state. Water resources minister Suresh Rawat said he has taken up the proposal with the Centre, urging that these additional components be incorporated into the project's Detailed Project Report (DPR). Rawat said that once these new irrigation projects are included in the PKC link scheme, irrigation facilities will be available for nearly 70,500 hectares of additional land. He added that the DPR related to Rajasthan's components of the project has already been uploaded on the Central Water Commission's e-PAMS portal for evaluation. Technical and cost assessments are currently in the final stage, after which the project will be placed before the Public Investment Board (PIB) and the Union Cabinet for approval. Rawat said the PKC link project will benefit 17 districts of eastern Rajasthan and provide the state with a total of 4,102.60 MCM of water. Of this, irrigation water will be available for about 403,000 hectares. He said the state has also urged the Centre to treat all components of the revised PKC link project under the interlinking of rivers programme as a single composite project and to fund it on the pattern of the Ken-Betwa link project, with 90% central and 10% state funding. Rawat said he has requested Union Jal Shakti minister CR Patil to develop a link scheme from Rana Pratap Sagar on the Chambal river to the Banas river, on the lines of the Kosi-Mechi river interlinking project. Rawat said the state has also sought inclusion of works to meet the long-term drinking water and industrial water requirements of the Japanese and Korean industrial areas in Kotputli-Behror district under the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor. For this, construction of additional artificial reservoirs has been proposed in the DPR....