Nyingchi, Tibet: China has formally embarked on the colossal construction of a USD 167.8 billion dam over the Brahmaputra River, known as Yarlung Zangbo in Tibet, in a move that has ignited significant apprehension in downstream riparian nations, particularly India and Bangladesh. Chinese Premier Li Qiang announced the commencement of this ambitious project at a groundbreaking ceremony held in Nyingchi City, close to the border with India’s Arunachal Pradesh.
The project, slated to be the largest infrastructure undertaking globally, will feature five cascade hydropower stations with a projected total investment of around 1.2 trillion Yuan. A 2023 report suggested that the hydropower station could generate over 300 billion kWh of electricity annually, a monumental output capable of meeting the yearly needs of more than 300 million people. While the primary aim is to supply electricity for external consumption, it will also cater to local demand within Tibet, which China officially refers to as Xizang.
The dam’s strategic location at a massive gorge in the Himalayan reaches, where the Brahmaputra makes a dramatic U-turn before flowing into Arunachal Pradesh and then Bangladesh, has raised red flags in New Delhi. Concerns centre not only on China’s potential control over water flow but also on the sheer scale of the project, which could enable Beijing to release vast quantities of water, potentially inundating border areas during times of heightened tensions. This new undertaking dwarfs even China’s own Three Gorges Dam, currently considered the world’s largest. India has, in response, also initiated plans for a dam on the Brahmaputra within Arunachal Pradesh.
Despite these apprehensions, officials from China, including the National Development and Reform Commission and the Power Construction Corporation of China, along with local residents, attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the project, which received approval in December last year. The Brahmaputra Dam presents enormous engineering complexities, situated as it is along a tectonic plate boundary, a region frequently prone to earthquakes. However, an official statement from December last year attempted to alleviate these fears, asserting the project’s safety and its commitment to ecological protection, citing extensive geological explorations and technological advancements as foundational to its secure development.
India and China have a pre-existing Expert Level Mechanism (ELM), established in 2006, specifically to address trans-border river issues. Under this mechanism, China provides India with hydrological information on the Brahmaputra and Sutlej rivers during flood seasons. The importance of data sharing for trans-border rivers was reiterated during talks between India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in December last year. The Brahmaputra, an arterial lifeline, carves the deepest canyon on Earth as it traverses the Tibetan Plateau, and the new dam is being constructed in one of the region’s rainiest areas.