India, March 18 -- The Punjab government on Wednesday demanded royalty from neighouring Rajasthan for water supplied for its irrigation and drinking water needs, claiming a staggering outstanding amount of Rs.1.44 lakh crore.

Chief minister Bhagwant Mann announced plans to recover the unpaid water royalty dues from the Rajasthan government under a 1920 tripartite agreement involving the neighbouring state and the central government. He said the Rajasthan government owed this amount to Punjab for the water drawn through the Ferozepur feeder since 1960, for which not even a single paisa has been paid.

The CM said that according to an agreement signed in the 1920s between the state of Bikaner, the erstwhile Punjab, and the British, Rajasth...