India Advances Kishau Project for Water Security and Clean Hydropower

• 𝘚𝘪𝘹 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳-𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨-𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘒𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘶 𝘔𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵. • 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘏𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘈𝘮𝘪𝘵 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘑𝘢𝘭 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘬𝘵𝘪 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘊. 𝘙. 𝘗𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘭. • 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦 97,000 𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 1,476 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘺𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳, 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 422 𝘔𝘞. • 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 90% 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘵. • 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘠𝘢𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘯.

Six states, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana, signed an inter-state agreement in New Delhi on September 15, 2026, to advance the long-awaited Kishau Multipurpose Project. The signing took place in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Jal Shakti Minister C. R. Patil, marking a significant step toward implementation of the multipurpose dam project on the Tons River.

The project has been officially designated as a National Project, with the Central government expected to shoulder approximately 90% of its total cost while the remaining 10% will be shared among the participating states. The agreement brings together the six states around a common framework for developing the project and managing its benefits across the Upper Yamuna basin.

Once completed, the Kishau project is designed to irrigate around 97,000 hectares of land and generate 1,476 million units of clean hydropower, with an installed capacity of 422 MW. The project is also expected to increase drinking water availability and support water management across the participating regions, with Delhi identified as a primary beneficiary.

The project involves construction of a 232.6-metre-high concrete gravity dam on the Tons River along the Uttarakhand-Himachal Pradesh border. The dam is expected to create a reservoir with a storage capacity of approximately 1,562 million cubic metres. According to the report, the reservoir will also play a role in efforts to rejuvenate the Yamuna River.

For businesses, the project could create opportunities across hydropower, water infrastructure, engineering, construction, environmental management and compensatory afforestation, while improved water availability could also support agriculture and water-intensive economic activities across the basin.

Cognitud’s expertise across energy transition, environmental assessment, sustainable infrastructure and sustainability strategy is relevant to projects where energy generation, water security and environmental considerations need to be addressed together. Its work can support organisations assessing the sustainability, environmental and operational implications of major infrastructure and clean-energy investments.