Beijing, China – Fresh concerns triggered by a devastating glacial collapse along the Nepal-China border are unlikely to sway Beijing’s plans to proceed with the construction of a mega dam on the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo, or the Brahmaputra River, in a seismically active region in Tibet near the border with India. China’s 15th Five-Year Plan for renewable energy, released in July, called for advancing the construction of major projects, including the Yarlung Zangbo Lower Reaches Hydropower Project. Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing visited Nyingchi in Tibet in April, stressing the need to “put quality first, safety as the foundation” and “strictly enforce construction standards and ecological-environmental-protection requirements.”
The project, dubbed the “project of the century” by Premier Li Qiang at a groundbreaking ceremony in July 2025, involves a total investment of 1.2 trillion Yuan (around ₹14 lakh crore) for the construction of five power stations. The new State-run China Yajiang Group has been set up to run the project. Chinese analysts project an installed capacity of 60 GW and 300 billion kilowatt-hours of power a year, more than three times the Three Gorges Dam. The dam, described as a “run-of-the-river” project, will involve a reservoir and a 40-km-long tunnel to divert water at the top of the great bend, powering five 12-GW powerhouses.
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Of concern to India is the impact on downstream flows and broader ecological impacts, as the lack of information poses an obstacle to assessing the possible impact. India and China will hold a meeting of the Expert-Level Mechanism on Trans-border Rivers later this month, but the sharing of hydrological data has not been regular. China’s Foreign Ministry has maintained that the construction is “beneficial for disaster prevention and mitigation” and will not have adverse effects on downstream areas, adding that China has engaged in necessary communication with downstream countries.
