Arunachal's 19,000 MW hydro push: what's running, what's stuck, and Siang

Arunachal Pradesh wants to move faster on nearly 19,000 MW of hydropower projects that are at different stages of planning and construction, Chief Minister Pema Khandu told a review meeting in Itanagar on Friday (November 13). The push comes amid protests against the proposed 11,200 MW Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP), the largest dam on the drawing board.

What the meeting decided

Khandu chaired the 12th State-Level Steering Committee Meeting on Hydropower Development. Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein, Chief Secretary Manish Kumar Gupta, deputy commissioners and officials of NHPC, SJVN, NEEPCO and THDC India attended, Northeast Live and UNI reported, along with NHPC chief Bhupender Gupta.

According to the reports, the discussion was about bottlenecks: forest and environment clearances, techno-economic approvals from the Central Electricity Authority, and land acquisition. Pending issues on THDC's 1,200 MW Kalai-II project on the Lohit got particular attention, and the state signed an MoU with THDC to train staff of its hydro power department.

Mein said the aim was to clear hold-ups through "better coordination and timely interventions", the Echo of Arunachal reported. No project list, deadlines or investment figures were released.

What is actually running

Only a small part of the 19,000 MW pipeline produces power today. The biggest piece close to completion is NHPC's 2,000 MW Subansiri Lower project at Gerukamukh on the Assam-Arunachal border. Five of its eight 250 MW units are now in commercial operation, the latest from October 23, giving 1,250 MW, according to NHPC's stock exchange filing.

On its earnings call for the July-September quarter, NHPC said it expects two more units this financial year and the last by June 2027. It put the project's cost at Rs 30,072 crore, of which about Rs 26,936 crore had been spent by September. Work on it was stalled for years from 2011 by protests in Assam over dam safety and downstream impact.

NHPC's 2,880 MW Dibang multipurpose project, in Lower Dibang Valley, is under construction. Kalai-II received Union Cabinet approval for investment in April 2026, and Anjaw district resumes its land survey for the project on Monday, as NEInsider reported earlier.

The 2023 reset

Much of the pipeline comes from projects private firms held for over a decade without building. In August 2023, the state cancelled those allotments and handed 12 of them, about 11,500 MW in total, to three central companies, The Arunachal Times and Business Standard reported at the time:

• SJVN (5 projects, 5,097 MW): Etalin 3,097 MW, Attunli 680 MW, Emini 500 MW, Amulin 420 MW and Mihumdon 400 MW, all in the Dibang basin.
• NHPC (2 projects, 3,800 MW): Subansiri Upper and Subansiri Middle (Kamala).
• NEEPCO (5 projects, 2,626 MW): Naying 1,000 MW, Hirong 500 MW, Tato-II 700 MW, Tato-I 186 MW and Heo 240 MW in the Siang basin.

The state was promised 12% free power, a 26% equity stake and an estimated Rs 1.26 lakh crore of investment. In October, Khandu said the state's equity would cost about Rs 15,000 crore, with central help, NE Now reported.

Last month the Union Environment Ministry's forest panel recommended in-principle approval for NEEPCO's Naying project, which will mean felling more than one lakh trees. Etalin needs about 1,175 hectares of forest and the felling of 2.7 lakh trees, The Indian Express reported in 2025. NHPC told investors this month that it hopes for Cabinet approval for Etalin "within two months". SJVN's Mihumdon feasibility report is still being prepared, its website says.

Why Siang hangs over all of it

Adi villagers have blocked NHPC's pre-feasibility survey; a bandh turned violent in Pasighat on October 23, and four protesters were held under the state's anti-terror law before being released with an offer of talks.

In a ground report published on Sunday, The Indian Express quoted Adi Bane Kebang United president Diji Tamuk as saying at least 27 Adi villages would be submerged. Upper Siang Deputy Commissioner Ashok Tajo told the paper that the project was a security measure against China's dam about 50 km upstream on the Yarlung Tsangpo, and admitted that there had been "shortcomings in the dissemination of information". Khandu says no decision will be taken without public consultation, but BJP MP Tapir Gao's line that the dam will be built "come what may" has deepened distrust.

Who is affected

The government sees hydropower as its biggest source of future revenue; Khandu has pointed out that the state budget has grown from about Rs 12,500 crore in 2015 to nearly Rs 40,000 crore. For families in Anjaw, Shi Yomi, Dibang Valley and the Siang districts, the same projects mean land surveys, compensation disputes and the loss of forests they depend on.

NEInsider will follow the Etalin and NEEPCO clearances and the Siang talks.