As may be imagined, the cost of these works has not been light, in spite of the cheapness of Indian labour. The total capital outlay up to date is in the neighbourhood of 150 crores of rupees or roughly £100 millions at the official rate of exchange. This money, however, has been well spent, for the value of the crops raised with the assistance of irrigation is in the vicinity of Rupees 100 crores or £67 millions annually. The gross revenue amounts to about Rupees thirteen crores or £8,660,000, the working expenses to Rupees five crores or £3.1/3 millions, and the net revenue, therefore, to Rupees eight crores or £5.1/3 millions. This represents a return of about 5% per Cent, which is a remarkable figure considering that a large proportion of the projects constitute what are known as "protection works," that is, schemes designed to protect tracts against famine, not necessarily to yield profits.
Up to the present the financial requirements of new schemes has been that they shall pay 6 per cent. The Central Board of Irrigation has launched a survey to estimate the gross value of irrigation schemes in the way of revenue from all sources, for such schemes mean not only an increase of land revenue and water rates, but also enhancement in railway, postal and customs receipts, to mention only the more obvious "sub-
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.