Important Points About Rivers of India

The Indian rivers are the principal source of water for country’s human life, agriculture and industry. These Rivers have been described as lifeline of our country and plays a vital role in the Indian economy. Further more, these rivers have a significant contribution towards waterway transportation and Hydro electric power generation. Based on source of origin, Indian rivers are divided into two types – Himalayan Rivers and Peninsular Rivers. The Major rivers of India are the Indus, Ganges, Yamuna, Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri and Narmada.

Major Rivers of India
River	Origin	Flow Route in India	Outflow
Indus	Tibetan Plateau	Ladakh, Jammu & Kashmir	Arabian sea
Ganga (Ganges)	Bhagirathi rises from Gangotri Glacier. The stream confluence with Mandakini and Alakananda at Dev Prayag and is known as Ganga from here.	Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal	Bay of Bengal
Yamuna	Yamunotri Glacier, Uttarkashi District of Uttarakhand	Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh	It confluences with the Ganges at Triveni Sangam
Brahmaputra	Kailash ranges of the Himalayas	Arunachal Pradesh, Assam	Bay of Bengal
Narmada	Amarkantak, Madhya Pradesh	Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat	Arabian sea via Gulf of Cambay
Tapi/Tapti	Satpura range in the Gawilgarh hills of  Deccan plateau, Madhya Pradesh	Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat	Arabian sea
Mahanadi	Sihawa mountain, Chhattisgarh	Chhattisgarh, Odisha	Bay of Bengal
Godavari	Trimbakeshwar, Maharashtra	Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha	Bay of Bengal
Krishna	Western Ghats near Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra	Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh	Bay of Bengal
Kaveri	Talakaveri, Brahmagiri range in the Western Ghats in Karnataka	Karnataka, Tamil Nadu	Bay of Bengal

Statewise List of Important Rivers in India
State/UT	Major Rivers
Andhra Pradesh	Godavari, Krishna, Penna/Pennar River, Palar
Bihar	Ganga, Gandak, Koshi
Delhi	Yamuna
Goa	Mandovi
Gujarat	Narmada, Tapi, Sabarmati, Orsang, Mahi
Haryana	Yamuna
Jharkhand	Damodar, Ganga, Subarnarekha, South Koel
Karnataka	Tungabhadra, Kaveri , Bhima, Pennar, Palar
Kerala	Periyar
Madhya Pradesh	Narmada, Chambal, Kali Sindh, Parbati, Betwa, Tapi, Sindh, Dhasan, Ken, Tons, Son
Maharashtra	Krishna, Godavari, Tapi, Bhima
Odisha	Mahanadi, Brahmini, Subarnarekha, Tel
Punjab	Satluj
Rajasthan	Chambal, Banas, Sabarmati, Luni
Sikkim	Tista
Tamil Nadu	Kaveri, Ponnaiyar, Palar
Uttar Pradesh	Ganga, Yamuna, Gomti, Ghaghara, Ramganga
Uttarakhand	Ganga, Ramganga
West Bengal	Ganga, Damodar, Tista

Major River Systems in India
River System	Main Tributaries
Indus River System	Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, Sutlej
Brahmaputra River System	Lohit, Dibang, Subansiri, Jiabharali, Dhansiri, Manas, Torsa, Sankosh, Teesta , Desang, Dikhow, Dhansiri, Kopili
Ganga River System	Yamuna, Ram Ganga, Gomati, Ghaghara, Son, Damodar, Sapt Kosi
Yamuna River System	Kali Sindh, Parbati, Chambal, Sindh, Betwa, Ken, Dhasan
Narmada River System	Burhner, Halon, Heran, Banjar, Dudhi, Shakkar, Tawa, Barna , Kolar, Ganjal, Beda, Orsang
Tapti River System	Purna, Girna, Panzara, Waghur, Bori, Aner
Godavari River System	Indravati, Manjira, Bindusara, Sabari
Cauveri River System	Shimsha, Hemavati, Arkavathy, Lokapavani, Bhavani, Kapila, Honnuhole, Lakshmana Tirtha, Kabini, Noyyal, Amaravati
Mahanadi River System	Seonath, Jonk, Hasdeo, Mand, Ib, Ong, Tel

East flowing & West Flowing Rivers of India
East Flowing Rivers	Outflow
Ganga	Bay of Bengal
Yamuna	Confluences with the Ganges at Triveni Sangam
Mahanadi	Bay of Bengal
Godavari	Bay of Bengal
Krishna	Bay of Bengal
Kaveri	Bay of Bengal
West Flowing Rivers	Outflow
Indus	Arabian Sea
Narmada	Arabian Sea
Tapi	Arabian Sea
Sabarmati, Orsang, Mahi	Arabian Sea
Orsang	Confluences with the Narmada River
Mahi	Arabian Sea
Periyar	Arabian Sea

List of Important River Projects in India
River	River Project	State
Sutlej River	Bhakra-Nangal Dam	Bhakra Dam – Himachal Pradesh Nangal Dam – Punjab
	Nathpa-Jhakri Hydro-Electric Project	Himachal Pradesh
Confluence of the Sutlej and Beas Rivers	Indira Gandhi Canal or Rajasthan Canal	Start point: Harike Barrage, Punjab End point: Thar Desert, Rajasthan
Beas River	Pong-Dam	Himachal Pradesh
Ravi River	Thien Dam	Punjab
	Chamera Hydro-Electric Project	Himachal Pradesh
Chenab River	Baglihar Hydroelectric Power Project	Jammu and Kashmir
	Dul-Hasti Hydro-Electric Project	Jammu and Kashmir
Bhagirathi	Koteshwar Dam	Uttarakhand
	Maneri Dam	Uttarakhand
	Tehri Dam	Uttarakhand
Ganga or Ganges River	Bhimgoda Barrage	Uttarakhand
	Pashulok Barrage	Uttarakhand
	Farakka Barrage	West Bengal
Yamuna River	Asan Barrage	Uttarakhand
	Dakpathar Barrage	Uttarakhand
Ramganga	Kalagarh Dam	Uttarakhand
Narmada	Sardar Sarovar Dam	Gujarat
	Adampura Dam	Madhya Pradesh
	Maheshwar Dam	Madhya Pradesh
	Indira Gandhi Sagar Dam	Madhya Pradesh
	Ahmadpur Dam	Madhya Pradesh
	Bichhia Dam	Madhya Pradesh
	Chandrakeshar Dam	Madhya Pradesh
Tapi	Kakrapar Dam	Gujarat
	Ukai Dam	Gujarat
	Dehali Dam	Maharashtra
	Dhaner Dam	Maharashtra
	Hatnur Dam	Maharashtra
	Wan Hydro Electric project	Maharashtra
	Nanduri Dam	Maharashtra
	Wadishewadi Dam	Maharashtra
Chambal	Gandhi Sagar Dam	Madhya Pradesh
Betwa	Rajghat Dam	Madhya Pradesh
Sindh River	Madikheda Dam	Madhya Pradesh
Damodar River	Durgapur Barrage	West Bengal
	Panchet Dam	West Bengal
Mahanadi	Hirakund Dam	Odisha
	Baghjharan Dam	Odisha
	Bhetabar Dam	Odisha
	Budhabudiani Dam	Odisha
	Barat Sagar Dam	Chhattisgarh
	Champi Dam	Chhattisgarh
Brahmani	Rengali Dam	Odisha
Godavari	Sriram Sagar Project or Poochampad Project	Telangana
	Jayakwadi	Maharashtra
	Polavaram	Andhra Pradesh
Krishna	Nagarjuna Sagar Dam	Telangana
	Srisailam Dam	Telangana and Andhra Pradesh
	Jurala Project	Telangana
	Koyna Dam	Maharashtra
	Pulichinthala Project	Andhra Pradesh
Kaveri	Krishnaraja Sagar Dam	Karnataka
	Mettur Dam	Tamil Nadu
	Upper Anaicut or Upper Anicut	Tamil Nadu
	Mangala II Dam	Karnataka
	Kallanai Dam	Tamil Nadu

Indian Major Cities on River Banks
River	City	State
Ganga or Ganges River	Haridwar	Uttarkhand
	Chandauli	Uttar Pradesh
	Farrukhabad	Uttar Pradesh
	Fatehgarh	Uttar Pradesh
	Kannauj	Uttar Pradesh
	Kanpur	Uttar Pradesh
	Chakeri	Uttar Pradesh
	Shuklaganj	Uttar Pradesh
	Allahabad	Uttar Pradesh
	Varanasi	Uttar Pradesh
	Nawabganj	Uttar Pradesh
	Bhagalpur	Bihar
	Patna	Bihar
	Calcutta	West Bengal
Yamuna River	Agra	Uttar Pradesh
	Mathura	Uttar Pradesh
	New Delhi	Delhi
Gomti River	Lucknow	Uttar Pradesh
Rapti River	Gorakhpur	Uttar Pradesh
Hooghly River	Kolkata	West Bengal
Chambal River	Gwalior	Madhya Pradesh
	Kota	Rajasthan
Narmada	Jabalpur	Madhya Pradesh
	Bharuch	Gujarat
Tapi River	Surat	Gujarat
Vishwamitri	Vadodara	Gujarat
Aji	Rajkot	Gujarat
Brahmaputra River	Guwahati	Assam
Mahanadi	Cuttack	Odisha
	Sambalpur	Odisha
Brahmani	Rourkela	Odisha
Pennar	Nellore	Andhra Pradesh
Godavari	Rajahmundry	Andhra Pradesh
	Nashik	Maharashtra
	Nanded	Maharashtra
Krishna	Sangli	Andhra Pradesh
	Vijayawada	Maharashtra
Netravati River	Mangalore	Karnataka
Tungabhadra	Hospet	Karnataka
Kaveri	Thiruchirapalli	Tamil Nadu
	Erode	Tamil Nadu
Adyar	Chennai	Tamil Nadu
Vaigai	Madurai	Tamil Nadu