NHPC invites global bids for J&K’s largest hydroelectric project after IWT suspension
WAJAHAT SHABIR
SRINAGAR: India has issued an international tender for the long-stalled Sawalkote Hydroelectric Project—a massive 1,856 MW run-of-the-river dam on the Chenab River in Jammu & Kashmir—marking a significant shift in water diplomacy following the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) with Pakistan.
The tender was floated on July 29 on the Central Public Procurement Portal and invites global bids by September 10. The project, to be executed by NHPC Ltd in collaboration with JKSPDC, is estimated to cost ₹22,704 crore, making it the largest hydroelectric project in J&K.
Detailed investigations for the Detailed Project Report (DPR) were conducted at the time. Officers of the Geological Survey of India conducted surveys for the project between 1962 and 1963 and 1970 and 1971. The Sawalkote Consortium submitted the Detailed Project Report in February 2018.
The project has been delayed for decades over environmental concerns, political issues, administrative challenges, red tape and legal issues. Over a dozen villages in the area will be affected by the project. Its residents will need to be shifted to new homes and compensated for the same.
The National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) was given the project in 1985. In 1997, it handed back the project to the Jammu and Kashmir State Power Development Corporation, which spent ₹400 crore on the project. The project landed in the NHPC’s hands again in 2021.
India, earlier this week, began laying the ground for the project. The NHPC on July 29 floated a tender valued at ₹200 crore. This covers the planning, design and engineering works for the scheme. The agency has fixed September 10 as the final date for submitting bids. The bid is open to international firms. This is merely the first tender. Additional tenders for construction and development will be floated in the coming months.
The project was originally designed on a much smaller scale. However, over the years, plans for the scheme have grown bigger. The project is designed as a run-of-the-river scheme. It will comprise nine turbines and an underground power station. It will feature a Roller Compacted Concrete Gravity Dam at a height of 192.5 metres.
The water will flow through three horseshoe-shaped tunnels measuring 965 metres, 1,130 metres, and 1,280 metres in length. It will have non-monsoon and monsoon period flood diversions at 2,977 cumec and 9,292 cumec, respectively.
It will produce around 8,000 million units of electricity every year. The reservoir that will come up with the project will have a capacity of over 500 million cubic metres. That’s around a fifth of the capacity of Delhi’s Bhakra dam. It will be the largest hydroelectric project in the Union Territory.
