India to start mega hydropower project near China border

India is all set to launch a mega hydropower project that has been in the works for the past 20 years.

National Hydro Electric Power Corporation Private Limited (NHPC) will begin the trial runs in July this year. The trials will be run through the Subansiri Lower Project that crosses the states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.

According to NHPC’s finance director Rajendra Prasad Goya, the first unit will be commissioned by the end of this year.

Meanwhile, by December 2024, all eight units will become operational.

The 2-gigawatt project started in 2003 but was delayed due to protests and litigations. In India, hydropower is crucial to balance an electrical grid as intermittent generation of solar and wind power rises.

According to Bloomberg, the price of the project jumped three higher than the original estimate to Rs 212.5 billion. The National Green Tribunal allowed the construction work to resume in 2019 following a suspension of over eight years.

“We need to get nearly 40 approvals from different departments before we start building a hydropower project. All the scrutiny should be done at this stage,” Goyal said.

He added, “Any stoppages after the construction has begun is problematic.”

Large dams are also seen as a potential boost to India’s local economies especially in areas that share borders with China and Pakistan. With the completion of the Subansiri Lower Project approaching soon, the NHPC has already planned a 2.9-gigawatt Dibang project, the biggest hydropower plant India has planned to build.

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