India Starts Work On Highest Dam In Arunachal Pradesh To Counter China’s Mega Project | Exclusive

Last Updated:September 15, 2025, 08:00 IST

With a 91-month deadline as per the tender, Dibang dam is expected to come up by 2032 and is crucial to India’s strategic security

The Dibang River is one of the major tributaries of the Brahmaputra River system contributing about 7% to the annual runoff of river Brahmaputra at Pandu. (News18)

Soon after reports that China had started work on a mega dam on the trans-border Yarlung Tsangpo river in Tibetan Plateau, India has also started work on what will be its highest dam — the Dibang Multipurpose Project in Arunachal Pradesh. The Indian government, specifically the state-run NHPC Limited, has now floated a big global bid worth Rs 17,069 crore to build the main dam which will act as a buffer against sudden water releases from China’s dam and prevent flooding in India. CNN-News18 has now exclusively accessed the Indian document.

With a 91-month deadline as per the tender, Dibang dam is expected to come up by 2032 and is crucial to India’s strategic security. Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister (CM) Pema Khandu and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders have been visiting the site at village Minli recently to evaluate it after Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year laid the foundation stone of the 2880-MW Dibang Multipurpose Project.

The urgency comes amid reports emerging this July that China had begun constructing what will be the world’s largest hydropower dam in Tibetan territory. India then had expressed concerns to China about the impact of mega dams and had urged Beijing to ensure the interests of India were not harmed. The government had also emphasised the “need for transparency and consultation with downstream countries".

There has been a thaw in the ties with China this year post the 2020 Galwan clash, with PM Narendra Modi travelling last month for the SCO Summit in China and holding a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. But the Chinese dam is a major issue of concern for India.

Arunachal Pradesh CM Khandu has earlier warned that the Siang and Brahmaputra could dry up considerably once the Chinese dam was completed, and China could even use it as a sort of “water bomb" as Indian territory could be flooded if the dam suddenly releases water.

Why Dibang Multipurpose Project is crucial

The Siang River originates as the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibet. It enters Arunachal Pradesh and is the headstream of the Dibang river that originates in the mountains of Arunachal Pradesh. They merge to form the Brahmaputra. The Dibang dam coming up in Arunachal Pradesh will act as an insurance and buffer for India against any Chinese designs.

“The two main objectives for construction of Dibang Multipurpose Project are power generation and flood moderation," says the bid document of the project floated by the NHPC Limited for building the main dam on river Dibang in Arunachal Pradesh’s Lower Dibang Valley District.

CM Khandu had recently inspected preparatory works at the site along with NHPC Chairman and Managing Director Sanjay Kumar Singh. The CM said it was their commitment to finish this mega project by the year 2032.

At 278 meters high, this will be India’s highest dam with an envisaged annual electricity generation of 11,223 million units. The Dibang River is one of the major tributaries of the Brahmaputra River system contributing about 7% to the annual runoff of river Brahmaputra at Pandu. The river originates from the southern flank of the Himalayas close to the Tibet border and flows from North to South through Dibang valley district and finally meets the river Lohit near Sadiya in Assam. The total length of Dibang from its source to its confluence is 195 km. Arunachal Pradesh will receive Rs 700 crore every year in free power from the project, whose total cost is Rs 31,875 crore.

For flood moderation, a capacity of 1,282 million cubic meters will be created by keeping the reservoir below the Full Reservoir Level in monsoon, as per the bid document accessed by CNN-News18.

What is China doing?

A report this July said Chinese authorities have begun constructing the world’s largest hydropower dam in Tibetan territory on the Yarlung Tsangpo river. It will be known as the Motuo Hydropower Station once completed and will overtake the Three Gorges dam as the world’s largest dam.

This project would give China the power to control or divert the trans-border Yarlung Tsangpo, which flows south into India’s Arunachal Pradesh and Assam as well as Bangladesh, and feeds into the Siang and Brahmaputra rivers. China has said it has a “legitimate right" to dam the river while considering downstream impacts. India wants to be ready for it.

Aman Sharma

Aman Sharma, Executive Editor - National Affairs at CNN-News18, and Bureau Chief at News18 in Delhi, has over two decades of experience in covering the wide spectrum of politics and the Prime Minister’s Office....Read More

Aman Sharma, Executive Editor - National Affairs at CNN-News18, and Bureau Chief at News18 in Delhi, has over two decades of experience in covering the wide spectrum of politics and the Prime Minister’s Office....

Read More

News india India Starts Work On Highest Dam In Arunachal Pradesh To Counter China’s Mega Project | Exclusive

Read More