New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will reportedly leave for Kathmandu on January 4 on a two-day visit to Nepal to co-chair the seventh meeting of the India-Nepal Joint Commission, the highest level bilateral mechanism between India and the Himalayan nation, with his Nepali counterpart N.P. Saud.
Jaishankar, who had last visited Nepal in 2019, will be leading a high-level Indian delegation comprising Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra, Joint Secretary (North, in charge of Nepal, Bhutan) Anurag Shrivastava and other officials of the External Affairs Ministry, according to reports. The two sides will discuss the entire gamut of bilateral issues during the meeting.
During the visit, two important agreements are expected to be signed. One will be on long-term energy cooperation between the two sides. The other will be on India increasing funds for High-impact Community Development Projects (HICDPs) in Nepal.
However, what will be of interest is whether the detailed project report (DPR) of the ambitious Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project can be finalised during Jaishankar’s visit. The project has been hanging fire for nearly three decades now since the signing of the Mahakali Treaty between the two sides in 1996.
According to a report in the Kathmandu Post, the Nepali side is working hard to give final shape to the Pancheshwar DPR. “There are some differences between us, which need to be sorted out at the political level,” the report quoted a senior energy ministry official of Nepal as saying. “If that happens and if the prime minister, energy minister and foreign minister agree, then the detailed project report of the Pancheshwar project could be finalised during the visit.”
So, what is the Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project?
The Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project (PMP) is a 6,480-MW bi-national hydropower project to be developed in Mahakali River (known as Sarda River in India) bordering Nepal and India. It is the centrepiece of the Mahakali Treaty that was signed between India and Nepal in February 1996.
According to the treaty, equal sizes of an underground power house i.e. of 3,240 MW will be constructed on each side of Mahakali River in India and Nepal. Moreover, the PMP also offers benefits of regulated water for irrigation to a vast area of agricultural land both in Nepal and India along with benefit of flood control downstream.
During the year 2009, pursuant to the Article 10 of the Mahakali Treaty, the governments of of India and Nepal agreed and framed the draft terms of reference (ToR) for setting up the Pancheshwar Development Authority (PDA) as an independent autonomous body, for development, execution and operation of the PMP as also to finalise its DPR.
The Pancheshwar Main Dam is proposed on Mahakali River where the river forms the international boundary between the Far Western Development Region of Nepal and the state of Uttarakhand in India. The dam site is around 2.5 km downstream of the confluence of river Sarju with river Mahakali. The project would comprise a rock-fill dam with central clay core of 311 m height from the deepest foundation level.
A re-regulating dam at Rupaligad is proposed around 27 km downstream of the main dam to even out peaking flows released from Pancheshwar power houses for meeting downstream irrigation water requirement. Here, two underground powerhouses on both sides of river with total installed capacity of 240 MW (2x60 MW on either bank) are envisaged.
The main dam will form a reservoir of around 11,600 hectare area with a gross storage volume of about 11,355 Mm3. The submergence area on the Indian side is 7,600 hectares, covering the districts of Pithoragarh, Almora and Champawat in Uttarakhand whereas the remaining 4,000 hectares of submergence will be in Nepal.
The project aims at producing hydropower and enhancing the food grains production in both the countries by providing additional irrigation resulting from the augmentation of dry season flows. Year round irrigation will be possible in agricultural land in Kanchanpur district in Nepal due to enhancement in flows during non-monsoon months.
Why has the project been in limbo for so long?
The PMP is one of the top priority projects to be implemented in a phased manner to reap the benefits as early as possible. After the signing of the Mahakali Treaty, both India and Nepal prepared separate DPRs. India’s state-owned Water and Power Consultancy Services Limited (WAPCOS) then submitted a draft final DPR to the PDA in December 2016 after merging the two reports. However, the two sides could not agree on several issues of the joint DPR.
The primary challenge in the bilateral negotiations revolves around determining the distribution of benefits for the multipurpose project. This project not only focuses on generating electricity but also aims to irrigate extensive regions in India and certain areas in Nepal, while also managing flood control.
When Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal visited India from late May to early June last year, he and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi had directed their respective agencies to finalise the DPR within three months. However, during the fifth meeting of the teams of experts held in Kathamndu in October 2023, the two sides again failed to finalise the DPR.
“Once again, we could not reach a conclusion on determining the benefits to each side from the project,” the Kathmandu Post had quoted Nabin Raj Singh, spokesperson for Nepal’s Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, as saying following the meeting. “Our point was that we get negligible benefits from this project in areas of irrigation and flood control while the Indian side wants to keep the benefits for itself.”
Singh stated that there should be equitable advantages in power availability for both parties. It is crucial to quantify these benefits for investment purposes. In line with the 1996 Mahakali Treaty, both sides have, in principle, agreed to share costs based on the benefits they receive in terms of power, irrigation, and flood control. Now, it remains to be seen whether the two sides can come on the same page during Jaishankar’s upcoming visit to Nepal this week.
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