Hydropower project on Chenab gets clearance
ENERGY
11 OCTOBER 2025
- 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, following the Pahalgam terror attack.
- 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.
- 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 said.
- 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 1,856 MW and generate about 8,000 million units of electricity annually.
