Godavari Basin extends over an area of 312,812 km2, whicih is nearly 9.5% of the total geographical area of the country. The basin lies in the states of Maharashtra (152,199 km2), Andhra Pradesh (73,201 km2), Madhya Pradesh (65,255 km2), Orissa (17,752 km2) and Karnataka (4,405 km2).
Godavari river rises near Nasik in Maharashtra at an elevation of 1067 m and flows for a length of about 1465 km before outfalling into the Bay of Bengal. The principal tributaries of the river are the Parvara, the Purna, the Manjra, the Penganga, the Wardha, the Wainganga, the Indravati and the Kolab.
The Godavari basin consists of large undulating plains divided by low flat topped hill ranges. The important soil types found in the basins are black soils, red soils, lateritic soils, alluvium, mixed soils and saline and alkaline soils.
An average annual surface water potential of 110.5 km3 has been assessed in this basin. Out of this, 76.3 km3 is utilisable water. Culturable area in the basin is about 18.9 Million ha, which is 9.7% of the total culturable area of the country.
Present use of surface water in the basin is 41.0 km3. Live storage capacity in the basin has increased significantly since independence. From just about 1.6 km3 in the pre-plan period, the total live storage capacity of the completed projects has increased to 19.5 km3. In addition, a substantial storage quantity of over 10.6 km3 would be created on completion of projects under construction. An additional storage to the tune of over 8.2 km3 would become available on execution of projects under consideration. The hydropower potential of the basin has been assessed as 5091 MW at 60% load factor.