List of rivers of India by discharge explained

There are 8 major river systems in India, with more than 400 rivers in total.^[1] Rivers play an important role in the lives of the Indian people due to their crucial importance in sustenance and their place in Indian religions. The table below lists the rivers of India with their average annual discharge into either the Bay of Bengal or Arabian Sea. Only rivers with discharging into the sea are listed, so no tributaries are listed, some of which can have flow rates much higher than some of the rivers listed in the table.

No.	Region	River	data-sort-type="number"	Length (km)	data-sort-type="number"	Drainage area (km^2)	data-sort-type="number"	Average discharge (m³/s)	Outflow	Reference	Note
1	Indo-Gangetic plain	Ganges	3084	1,200,000	41,199	Bay of Bengal		Trans-boundary, 3rd largest discharge in the world
2	Indo-Gangetic plain	Indus	3200	1,085,000	6,600	Arabian Sea		Trans-boundary, flows mainly through Ladakh in India
3	West Coast	West flowing rivers south of Tapti	NA	NA	6,371	Arabian Sea	^[2]	Includes Periyar, Vaigai, Sharavathi, Kali, Mandovi, Zuari
4	Deccan	Godavari	1465	312,812	3505	Bay of Bengal		Largest river in South India
5	Deccan	Krishna	1400	258,948	2213	Bay of Bengal		2nd largest river in South India
6	East Coast	Mahanadi	858	141,600	2119	Bay of Bengal
7	Central India	Narmada	1312	98,796	1447	Arabian Sea		Largest west flowing river within India
8	East Coast	Brahmi-Baitarani	480	39033	903	Bay of Bengal		Second largest river in Odisha
9	South India	Kaveri	765	81,155	677	Bay of Bengal		Largest river of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka
10	East Coast	East flowing rivers between Mahanadi and Godavari	NA	NA	561	Bay of Bengal		Includes Vamsadhara
11	Central India	Tapti	724	65,145	489	Arabian Sea
12	East Coast	Subarnarekha	470	19300	392	Bay of Bengal
13	Central India	Mahi	580	34842	383	Arabian Sea
14	South India	Penna	597	55213	200.4	Bay of Bengal

See also

• List of drainage basins by area
• List of rivers by discharge
• List of rivers by dissolved load
• Indian Rivers Inter-link
• Interstate River Water Disputes Act
• Irrigation in India
• List of rivers by discharge
• List of dams and reservoirs in India
• National Water Policy
• Water scarcity in India
• Water supply and sanitation in India
• Water pollution in India

Notes and References

1. Web site: India’s misunderstood rivers. Banerjee. Ananda. 2015-05-25. www.livemint.com. HT Media Ltd.. 2015-08-22. "The Indian subcontinent is home to seven major river systems with more than 400 rivers. ".
2. Kumar . Rakesh . Singh . R.D. . Sharma . K.D. . Water Resources of India . Current Science . 89 . 5 . 794–811 . Current Science Association . Bangalore . 2005-09-10 . 2013-10-13 .