NEW DELHI: After a year of putting the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) on hold, the government has accelerated the stalled Kirthai Stage II Hydroelectric Project in Kishtwar district, Jammu and Kashmir, on the Chenab river. To expedite its construction, the government has decided to transfer the terms of reference to the new entity Chenab Valley Power Projects Limited.
The Kirthai II project, which has a proposed capacity of 930 MW, was originally conceptualised in 1984. Many hydro projects have been revived since India suspended the IWT following the Pahalgam terror attack in April 2025. Several of these projects, particularly on the Chenab, had been stalled due to objections from Pakistan under the IWT.
The Kirthai II project was initially proposed by the Jammu and Kashmir State Power Development Corporation Limited (JKSPDC), which had received approval for terms of reference from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on June 5, 2013, for conducting environmental impact assessment studies. According to prevailing regulations, the terms remained valid until June 4, 2017, and were subsequently extended by the ministry until June 4, 2018.
Before the expiry of the extended validity period, the Jammu and Kashmir body submitted the proposal for environmental clearance along with the draft environmental impact assessment and environmental management plan reports on June 2, 2018. An Expert Appraisal Committee later considered the proposal in its meetings held in 2018 and 2021 and recommended the project for environmental clearance, subject to stipulated conditions.
However, the committee did not grant environmental clearance for the Stage II approval, stating that the company had not obtained and submitted the plan that was required for forest clearance of Stage I for the diversion of forest land.
Meanwhile, to facilitate the progress of the project, significant institutional developments took place. A joint venture company, Chenab Valley Power Projects Limited, was established by the NHPC and the JKSPDC for implementation of hydropower projects in the Chenab basin.
The project’s techno-economic appraisal was transferred and revalidated in favour of the new company, and the Stage I forest clearance proposal was also submitted by it.
Given the changes in project ownership and implementation structure, a proposal was submitted in April 2026 seeking the transfer of the terms of reference from the JKSPDC to the new entity.
The committee has concluded that the terms can have perpetual validity for processing the project. Therefore, it decided to transfer the terms from JKSPDC to the new entity for further regulatory processing of the project.