The Cabinet committee on economic affairs is expected to accept the environment ministry’s proposal to create a National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Eco-systems (NPCA) by merging the existing National Lake Conservation Plan and National Wetlands Conservation Programme.

The objective will be the holistic conservation and restoration of the water quality of lakes and wetlands thereby improving biodiversity. The estimated cost of the proposed project, planned for the 12th Plan period, is `900 crores on 70:30 cost-sharing between the Central government and the respective state governments while for the Northeastern states it will be on a 90:10 basis.