Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti on Wednesday met Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here and sought his cooperation for the Mahanadi-Godavari linking project.
Patnaik said the State Government would take a final decision over the project only after through consideration.
It was decided at the meeting that officials of the State Government and Centre would hold discussions over the project.
Bharti said a total of Rs 30,000 crore would be spent for the project while the Centre would bear 90 per cent of it. She said it would boost the agriculture sector while the drinking water problem would be solved.
Both the leaders also discussed about the controversial Polavaram irrigation project.
Expressing his dissatisfaction over declaring it as national project, the Chief Minister said the Centre should give importance to the concern of a State in a Federal system.
He said the Centre should take steps in relation to inter-State disputes.
It was decided that officers of State and Union Governments would discuss over different aspects of the Polavaram project, said an official Press release.