Three Hydel projects in J&K put on fast-track

INdia has position tercet force projects in Jammu and jammu and kashmir on the fast-track, with unification power minister Mohan Lal kicking off construction of the 850 MW Ratle hydroelectric facility in an event on January 4 and reviewing the status of two that have already received environmental clearances – Dulahasti Stage II and the 1856 MW Sawalkot hydropower dam.The project in Ratle, a run-of-the-river facility on the Chenab River in the state’s Kishtwar district, is the first facility where concrete work has begun since India paused the Indus Waters Treaty a day after terrorists struck Kashmir’s Pahalgam on April 22 last year, killing 26 people. India has blamed Pakistan for the attack.Tenders to build a stage II-power station of the 390 MW Dulahasti scheme, also on the Chenab, have been floated while the proposed 1856 MW Sawalkot hydropower dam will come up before the Union government’s public investment board (PIB) in March this year, a person aware of the development said. The PIB, which is chaired by the Union finance secretary, is a high-level committee that approves funding for large public projects.Lal also issued directions to commission the under-construction Pakal Dul and Kiru projects by December 2026 and the Kwar project by March 2028, the person quoted above said.On January 4, Lal presided over a ceremony to kick off “dam concreting work” at the 850 MW Ratle project at Drabshalla in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar. The project is being executed by the Ratle Hydroelectric Power Corporation Limited (RHPCL), a JV between the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Ltd, the country’s biggest power company, and the Jammu & Kashmir State Power Development Corporation (JKSPDC) Ltd.The Dulahasti stage II project, for which tenders have been floated, received its environmental clearance from the Centre’s expert appraisal committee in December 2025. The Sawalkot scheme was the first of the Chenab projects to receive environmental go-ahead, in October of last year.India has advanced timelines of several proposed projects after putting in “abeyance” the Indus treaty, many of whose clauses India considers outdated. The treaty allowed Pakistan to raise objections to India’s power buildouts on the eponymous Indus river system, which feeds key cross-border rivers. Pakistan had objected to pondage facilities to be created as part of the Ratle project, approved in 2010.After visiting Ratle, the Union power minister also reviewed all three projects of the Chenab Valley Power Projects Limited under construction: Pakal Dul (1000 MW), Kiru (624 MW), and Kwar (540 MW).