The dam was constructed to provide water and electricity to the Indian states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.

[3] The construction for dam begun in 1987, but the project was stalled by the Supreme Court of India in 1995 in the backdrop of Narmada Bachao Andolan over concerns of displacement of people.

[5] The water level in the Sardar Sarovar Dam eventually reached its highest capacity at 138.7 metres on 15 September 2019.

The dam's main power plant houses six 200 megawatts (MW) Francis pump-turbines to generate electricity and include a pumped-storage capability.

[15] This dam is one case study to learn about Integrated River Basin Planning, Development and Management.

[16] The reservoir operation in the catchment area during the monsoons (from July to October) is well synchronized with the rain forecast.

The River Bed Power House (RPBH) is responsible for strategically maximizing the annual allocation of water share.

In non-monsoon months, RPBH takes measures to minimize the conventional and operational losses, avoiding water storage, restricting water intensive perennial crops, adoption of underground pipelines, proper maintenance of canals, related structures and operation of canals on a rotational basis.

A thorough survey was carried out by his government to study the usage of the Narmada River which flows through states of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat to the Arabian Sea.

The dam also provides flood protection to riverine reaches measuring 30,000 ha (74,000 acres) covering 210 villages and Bharuch city and a population of 400,000 in Gujarat.

[24] The Narmada Water Dispute Tribunal, setup by Indian government has provided a policy framework under which rehabilitation of affected people has been implemented.

The guiding principles of this policy are: According to a research paper and survey done by Swaminathan S. Anklesaria Aiyar and Neeraj Kaushal: "Are Resettled Out sees from the Sardar Sarovar Dam Project Better off Today than their Former - despite implementation glitches, those displaced were far better off than their former forest neighbors in ownership of a range of assets including TVs, cellphones, vehicles, access to schools and hospitals, and agricultural markets.