The Sardar Sarovar dam -- across the Narmada river in India's western state of Gujarat -- is expected to irrigate 200,000 hectares (490,000 acres) of barren land and produce nearly 1,500 megawatts of electricity every day from January.

"India has taken a leap ahead," Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi told a gathering to mark the completion of the project, the Press Trust of India reported.

"The dam will change the future of the country and Gujarat will benefit from it," the report quoted Modi saying as the last bucket of concrete was poured onto the wall of the dam multi-billion-dollar dam.

The Sardar Sarovar is the centrepiece of India's ambitious Narmada Valley project that taps the Narmada river through a series of dams, reservoirs and canals.

Authorities say the dam will also provide drinking water to millions of people in Gujarat and the neighbouring states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, besides helping in flood control.

Construction of the 1,250-metre-long (1,367 yards) and 122 metre-high (402 feet) dam began in 1987, but it soon became embroiled in an environmental campaign.

In July, India's Supreme Court, after hearing a petition from environmentalists, gave the go-ahead to the project following a plea from India's prime minister that the project was important for development.

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