In this article modified H₂ minimization based Internal Model Control-Proportional Integral (MH₂IMC-PI) control structure for time delayed stable process is designed. Initially, H₂ optimal IMC-PI is designed and implemented which is then altered by including an additional controller block with a proportional gain constant. The final response of the feedback system is enhanced due to this modification. The water cycle algorithm is deployed to acquire the best optimal parameters for controller settings. Further, the efficacy of the proposed is investigated using different transfer functions and case studies. The servo and regulatory performance are also compared with other control techniques available in recent studies. The results were simulated, and the suggested novel control scheme gives smooth and distinct process outputs and control actions. It is also shown that MH₂IMC-PI reduces integral value of absolute and square error values in comparison to the already existing techniques in the literature and proves its superiority over other controllers.