The 2027 Budget allocates Rs 77 billion to irrigation development, covering repairs to systems damaged by Cyclone Ditwah, the Mahaweli programme and a set of stalled regional projects the government now intends to restart.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake set out the allocations while presenting the Budget to Parliament on Thursday. The money is to accelerate irrigation development already under way and to begin new projects, Hiru News reported. The Daily Mirror’s summary of the Budget’s key proposals states the same Rs 77 billion total for irrigation development, “including the rehabilitation of damaged irrigation systems and the implementation of new projects.”
Where the money goes
| Item | Allocation |
|---|---|
| Cyclone Ditwah damage — cascade tank systems, minor irrigation, agricultural roads | Rs 21 billion |
| Mahaweli Water Security and Investment Programme, incl. North Central Province Canal Project | Rs 19.5 billion |
| Minor irrigation systems — maintenance and development | Rs 15 billion |
| Lower Malwathu Oya project — Anuradhapura, Vavuniya, Mannar | Rs 7.5 billion |
| Wayamba Canal, Rajangana–Ussana modernisation, Siyambalangamuwa–Mahagalgamuwa feeder canal, Gampaha flood mitigation | Rs 5 billion |
| Mundeni Aru river basin development — Batticaloa, Ampara | Rs 1 billion |
| Preliminary work incl. Kumbukkan Oya and Heda Oya feasibility | Rs 200 million |
| Feasibility studies incl. the Jaffna irrigation project | Rs 75 million |
The Rs 21 billion for cyclone damage is an estimate of rehabilitation cost rather than a fresh programme: the work began in 2026, and the Budget provides the balance in 2027.
The Rs 5 billion line bundles four distinct works — diverting surplus water from the Wemedilla reservoir into the Mi Oya basin via the Wayamba Canal; modernising the Rajangana–Ussana irrigation scheme, which Hiru News reports is more than 50 years old; completing the Siyambalangamuwa–Mahagalgamuwa feeder canal; and flood mitigation in Gampaha town.
The Mundeni Aru project is framed as serving both ends of the same problem in Batticaloa and Ampara — meeting water demand and reducing flood risk.
Looking to 2040
Beyond the named projects, the Budget funds a pre-feasibility study into transferring water between the Rakwana Ganga, Samanala Wewa and Uma Oya systems, to meet additional demand expected around the Hambantota industrial zone by 2040. Separate feasibility money covers restarting the Kumbukkan Oya and Heda Oya reservoir projects.
The arithmetic
The eight itemised lines come to about Rs 69.3 billion, or roughly 90 per cent of the Rs 77 billion headline — a far tighter reconciliation than most sector lines in this Budget. Around Rs 7.7 billion is unaccounted for in the filings.
One caveat on that sum: the Rs 15 billion minor-irrigation line appears only in the Daily Mirror’s account, and the Rs 21 billion cyclone line is itself described as covering “minor irrigation infrastructure.” Whether those two overlap is not stated, so the true itemised total may be lower.
Two identical Rs 77 billion lines
The Daily Mirror’s spending breakdown lists, on consecutive rows, “Irrigation Rs. 77 bn” and “Drinking water and sanitation Rs. 77 bn.”
These are two separate allocations that happen to carry the same figure. Irrigation is agricultural water — tanks, canals and river basins. The drinking water and sanitation allocation, covered in this desk’s separate report, funds piped supply schemes at Greater Kilinochchi, Greater Galle and Kundasale–Haragama among others. The coincidence is worth stating plainly, because the two are easily conflated and the itemised project lists beneath them share no entries.
Sourcing note
Two verified newsrooms have filed on the allocation. Hiru News carries the fullest project-by-project detail, including the Malwathu Oya, Mundeni Aru and Rakwana Ganga lines; the Daily Mirror independently confirms the Rs 77 billion total and the Mahaweli, Wayamba Canal and Ditwah figures, and adds the Rs 15 billion minor-irrigation line that Hiru News does not carry.
Not reported
Neither filing gives completion dates for any project, says which are donor-funded, or explains the roughly Rs 7.7 billion gap between the itemised lines and the headline. Neither states how much of the Rs 21 billion cyclone estimate was already spent in 2026, nor how many hectares of command area the programme is expected to restore.
