Hydropower project on Chenab gets clearance

An apex committee of the Environment Ministry has accorded a fresh environmental clearance to the Sawalkote hydroelectric project, proposed to come up on Chenab river in Ramban, Jammu and Kashmir.

Planned as a run-of-the-river project utilising the flow of the Chenab to generate electricity, it is reportedly the first major hydropower project on the Indus rivers to be accorded environmental clearance following India’s suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) on April 23, 2025, following the Pahalgam terror attack.

“The Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC), after examining the information submitted and detailed deliberations, reiterated its earlier recommendation on the project and recommended the proposal for grant of prior Environmental Clearance to Sawalkote H.E. Project,” said the minutes of a meeting conducted on September 26, 2025.

The project was first accorded an environmental clearance by a designated committee in 2017, when it was originally being steered by the Jammu and Kashmir Power Development Corporation (JKPDC). However, the JKPDC signed a deal with the National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC) Ltd in 2021 to build and commission the project and be effectively in charge of it until 2061.

Despite the designated committee’s nod, the Environment Ministry could not clear the project as the JKPDC could not procure a forest clearance – which follows a parallel approval process. In September 2023, the project was first accorded a ‘stage 1 forest clearance’ as per publicly available records.

Also read: Indus Waters Treaty suspended: India has many options, says expert

Project cost goes up

While the process of transferring the project to the NHPC has been on since 2021, a slew of approvals from the Central Electricity Authority and the Central Water Commission were accorded in July 2025. Public hearings, required to be done under the provisions of the Forest Rights Act, were done between December 2022 to February 2023.

“The Sawalkote project was already going through various stages of approval. Given its size – though it does not have a storage dam – it will be the largest project of its kind and has always had certain strategic importance. The suspension of the IWT and the plan to utilise the full potential of the eastern Indus rivers have added momentum to the approval process,” a senior official, aware of the approval process of hydroelectric projects, told The Hindu, but declined to be identified.

The Sawalkote project will consist of a 192.5-m high Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC) gravity dam with six power generator units of 225 MW capacity and one unit of 56MW capacity in the first stage and two units of 225 MW capacity in the second stage of development. From an earlier estimate of about ₹22,000 crore, estimated cost of the project has ballooned to ₹31,380 crore.

It is projected to have an installed power capacity of 1856 MW and generate about 8,000 million units of electricity annually. With a reservoir area of nearly 1,159 hectares – 847 ha of which is forest land, the project is expected to be spread over 1,401 hectares. A total of 13 villages from two tehsils, viz. Ramban and Gool Sangaldan of Ramban district, will be affected due to acquisition of land for the construction of components of the Sawalkote HEP and 1,477 families are expected to be displaced, requiring resettlement. For their resettlement and rehabilitation, ₹190 crore has been provisioned.