Loading…
The Deputy Commissioners of Udhampur and Ramban visited the Sawalkote Hydroelectric Project headquarters at Tanger in Ramban district to review the progress of the 1,856 MW scheme.
The project head briefed them on dam works, access tunnels and roads, and on the approvals still pending - Public Investment Board clearance, then Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approval, after which tenders are to be opened.
Sawalkote is a run-of-the-river scheme on the Chenab being built by NHPC at an estimated cost of Rs 31,380 crore, and will be the largest hydropower station in Jammu and Kashmir.
It received environmental clearance on 26 September 2025 - the first major hydro project on the Indus river system cleared after India placed the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance on 23 April 2025.
Indus Waters Treaty signed at Karachi by Jawaharlal Nehru and Ayub Khan, with the World Bank as mediator and signatory.
NHPC incorporated as National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Private Limited.
Pahalgam terror attack.
India places the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance.
Sawalkote receives environmental clearance - the first major hydro project on the Indus system cleared after the treaty was held in abeyance.
Deputy Commissioners of Udhampur and Ramban review progress at the project headquarters in Tanger.
Central public sector undertaking under the Ministry of Power; executing agency for Sawalkote and India's largest hydropower developer
Appraises large public investment proposals before they go to the Cabinet or CCEA for sanction
Sanctions major investment proposals of central undertakings; its clearance is the gate Sawalkote must pass before tenders open
Joint venture of NHPC and JKSPDC executing the Pakal Dul, Kiru and Kwar projects, of 2,164 MW in aggregate, on the same river basin
The Chenab is formed by the confluence of the Chandra and the Bhaga streams at Tandi in the Lahaul region of Himachal Pradesh, and enters Jammu and Kashmir before flowing on into Pakistan. Under the Indus Waters Treaty it is one of the three western rivers - with the Indus and the Jhelum - whose waters are allocated to Pakistan, though India is permitted run-of-the-river hydroelectric use. That is why the Indian projects on it form a chain of run-of-river stations rather than large storage reservoirs: Baglihar (Stage-I, 450 MW, built by the J&K State Power Development Corporation) upstream of Sawalkote, and NHPC's Salal (690 MW) downstream, with Dulhasti (390 MW) further up the valley and the CVPPL cluster of Pakal Dul, Kiru and Kwar under construction.
GS Paper I > Geography: rivers of India; GS Paper II > India and its neighbourhood, bilateral treaties; GS Paper III > Infrastructure, energy
General Awareness > Indian geography, current affairs, public sector undertakings
General Awareness > Indian rivers, dams and power projects
A hydro scheme that uses the natural flow of a river with little or no storage, so it does not materially change the volume of water going downstream - the design the Indus Waters Treaty permits India on the western rivers.
A dam that resists the push of the water by its own weight alone; Sawalkote's is planned at 192.5 metres.
Borrowing that ranks below other debt for repayment; the Ministry of Power is evaluating about Rs 18,700 crore of it to make the project's finances viable.
Suspension of the operation of a treaty without formally terminating it - the status India announced for the Indus Waters Treaty on 23 April 2025.