New Delhi: Amid growing concerns over China's ongoing construction of the world's largest hydropower dam, on the Yarlung Tsangpo river in Tibet, India has accelerated work on its very own high-impact project, the Dibang Multipurpose project in Arunachal Pradesh.
Positioned as a strategic counterbalance to China's damming plans upstream, India's 2,880 MW Dibang project is not only its largest hydropower venture but will also feature the country's tallest dam structure.
The project, which has now entered the tender award stage, as per the Indian Investment Grid, has gained renewed urgency. According to a report by News18, the state-run NHPC Limited has floated a global bid worth Rs 17,069 crore for construction of the main dam, with a completion target of February 2032.
What Is the Dibang Multipurpose Project?
Located near the Munli village in Lower Dibang Valley district of Arunachal Pradesh, the Dibang Multipurpose Project is designed as both a power generation and flood moderation facility.
The project involves building a 278-metre-high concrete gravity dam using the Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC), making it the highest RCC dam in the world, according to a press release issued by the Government of India in March 2024.
According to the project details listed on the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) portal of the Government of India, the Dibang project has a total cost of Rs 31,875 crore (USD 4.01 billion) and aims to generate 11,223 million units of clean electricity annually. The power will feed into India's Northern Grid, while Arunachal Pradesh will receive 12% of the power free of cost, along with an additional 1% for local area development.
The project is also strategically positioned to mitigate risks of sudden water surges from China's dam by acting as a buffer reservoir with a flood moderation capacity of 1,282 million cubic metres during monsoon, as detailed in the NHPC bid document accessed by News18.
The conceptualisation for the project officially started on February 27, 2023 and is slated to be commissioned by February 2032. It is expected to provide employment to 500 people during the construction phase and 200 during its operation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi while laying the foundation stone last year, declared the project a "key element" of India's infrastructure push in the northeast. "Dibang dam will be Indiaās highest dam," Modi said at the Viksit Bharat Viksit North East programme.
Controversies Surrounding the Project
Despite its strategic importance, the Dibang project has faced over a decade of local opposition, primarily from the Idu Mishmi tribe in Arunachal Pradesh's Dibang valley, who fear displacement and loss of traditional land.
According to a report by The Wire, protests erupted as early as 2008 when the project was first announced by former Prime Minster Manmohan Singh. Although the government claims that only 115 families across five villages will be displaced and 744 families get affected, community leaders estimate the real impact will reach at least 2,000 people.
The project's environmental impact has also drawn criticism. As per a 2015 clearance report from the Ministry of Environment, the dam will submerge 3,546 hectares of land, including large swathes of community forest, cultivated land and areas close to the Mehao Wildlife Sanctuary. Nearly, 3.5 lakh trees are also expected to be felled.
The Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) of the environment ministry had twice rejected the project in 2013 and 2014, citing deficiencies in environmental impact assessments and failure to comply with the Forest Rights Act, 2006. It finally granted clearance in September 2014 under pressure from the central government, according to The Wire.
Legal disputes have also emerged in the case. The NHPC challenged the Arunachal governmentās compensation package in the Gauhati High Court, arguing that a large portion of the affected land "falls under Un-classed State Forest (USF)" and is not privately owned. This also led to counter-petitions from the Dibang Multipurpose Project Affected Area Committee (DMPAAC), with community leaders calling for halting all work until the matter is resolved.
Downstream, concerns have been raised in Assam, particularly over the potential impact on Dibru-Saikhowa National Park and the risk of flooding in case of water release or dam failure. Activists, including Akhil Gogoi of Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti and All Assam Students Union (AASU), have also criticised the project for being cleared without public consultation in the downstream regions.
Despite this, the Centre is pushing ahead. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) cleared Rs 1,600 crore for pre-construction work including compensation and access infrastructure.
Safety concerns are to be addressed through the Dam Safety Act, 2019, which mandates a national and state-level oversight framework for dam operations.
