Rajasthan State emerged in 1949 out of merger of 19 princely states. The state has the largest geographical area (3,42,239 sq.km) in the country; it extends from the Aravlli Range to the Pakistan border in the Thar desert. About 60% of its area is arid or semi-arid, drought-prone and very sparsely populated, the density being less than 200 persons per sq.km. To improve the living conditions and to make the desert arable, work on the Indira Gandhi Canal, one of the world's longest (main canal 650 km) multipurpose canals, started in the fifties to bring water from Ravi-Beas-Sutlej system of rivers in Punjab to the north-western desert districts of Rajasthan; water has already reached the district of Jaisalmer. There is only one perennial river in the state, viz Chambal which flows through part of its south-east. At the time of its formation, the state had a total installed power generating capacity of mere 13.27 MW. Electric supply was then considered a luxury and was confined to the palaces of Maharajas and princes and to few towns. The public distribution system was available in the limited areas of 42 towns and there was hardly any energized pump set for agricultural purpose.
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