In the 1970s, Dr. K.L. Rao, a dams designer and former irrigation minister proposed "National Water Grid". He was concerned about the severe shortages of water in the South and repetitive flooding in the North every year. He suggested that the Brahmaputra and Ganga basins are water surplus areas, and central and south India as water deficit areas. He proposed that surplus water be diverted to areas of deficit. When Rao made the proposal, several inter-basin transfer projects had already been successfully implemented in India, and Rao suggested that the success be scaled up.
In 1980, India's then Ministry of Water Resources came out with a report entitled "National Perspectives for Water Resources Development". This report split the water development project in two parts – the Himalayan and Peninsular components. The Congress Party came to power and it abandoned the plan. In 1982, India financed and set up a committee of nominated experts, through National Water Development Agency (NWDA) to complete detailed studies, surveys and investigations in respect of reservoirs, canals and all aspects of feasibility of interlinking peninsular rivers and related water resource management. NWDA has produced many reports over 30 years, from 1982 through 2013. However, the projects were not pursued.
The river inter-linking idea was revived in 1999, after the National Democratic Alliance formed the Government of India, but this time with a major strategic shift. The proposal was modified to intra-basin development as opposed to inter-basin water transfer.