NHPC Ltd, India’s largest hydropower producer, will commission hydro projects with a total capacity of 2,170 megawatt (MW) by the end of FY26., the public sector undertaking’s (PSU) chairman and managing director Raj Kumar Chaudhary told Moneycontrol in an exclusive interview. Besides, the much delayed 2,000 MW Subansiri hydropower project in Arunachal Pradesh will also be commissioned in FY26, he said. Edited excerpts:
Last year, the addition of hydropower capacity was negligible. How is NHPC navigating the challenges before the sector?
It is true that hydropower has challenges at multiple levels – from geological uncertainties to consensus from the locals. But we are wading through these issues with custom-made solutions since there is no one-size-fits-all answer to the problems we face.
NHPC currently has a total operational capacity of 7,233 MW, of which 6,571 MW is hydropower and the remaining 662 MW is renewable energy. We are operating at least 22 hydropower projects in India.
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Another 9,314 MW of hydro projects are under construction. At least, 4,000 MW of hydropower projects are at various stages of clearance, and about 5,500 MW at the survey stage. Besides, new initiatives comprise as much as 14,700 MW.
Several of your projects are running behind schedule. Do you expect any of them to be commissioned in this financial year or the next?
In the current financial year, NHPC will commission the 800 MW Parbati-II hydroelectric project in Himachal Pradesh in March, which will take our total generation from hydropower to about 24,982 million units (MU) with a total installed capacity of 8,032 MW.
For FY 2025-26, the 120 MW Rangit-IV Hydroelectric Project in Sikkim will be commissioned in December 2025. Besides, 5 out of 8 units of the 2,000 MW Subansiri hydroelectric project, each with a capacity of 250 MW, will be commissioned by March 2026. By the end of FY 2025-26, NHPC’s total installed hydropower capacity will reach 9,403 MW, with an estimated generation contribution of approximately 32,978 MU.
The remaining 3 units of Subansiri will be energised in the following months. By May 2026, the entire 2,000 MW Subansiri hydropower plant will be commissioned.
What about pumped storage projects?
Yes, we are actively working on pumped storage projects (PSPs) and have identified at least 20 such projects. NHPC plans to realise a capacity of 20 gigawatt (GW), or 20,000 MW, through PSPs with an expected investment of about Rs 80,000 crore.
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For 12 of the 20 projects, we have completed pre-feasibility reports. Out of that, we have taken up DPR (detailed project report) in six projects. In another 8 projects the pre-feasibility study is underway.
Several private companies are setting up hydropower plants in neighbouring countries. Does NHPC have any plan to expand its business overseas?
At present, NHPC is working on 3 hydroelectric projects in Nepal. Two of these projects are being implemented by NHPC on its own, namely West Seti of 800 MW and Seti River – 6 (SR6) of 460 MW. Currently, these two projects are under the survey and investigation stage. DPRs for both have been prepared.
The third project namely Phukot Karnali of 624 MW is in JV mode with Vidyut Utpadan Company Ltd (VUCL), for which the DPR has been submitted to VUCL for review.
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We have also approached the Royal Government of Bhutan for building a hydropower project at Puna Tsang Chu river in Bhutan. As per our survey, we can build a hydel project of 2,650 MW at least, but the Bhutanese government wants an even higher capacity of up to 4,000 MW. We are open to that too.
Give us an update on NHPC’s renewable and green hydrogen portfolio.
Our PSP projects are considered green projects and they come under our green arm, NHPC Renewable Energy Ltd (NREL). We have an installed renewable capacity of 261.7 MW, and another 1,490 MW is under construction.
In green hydrogen, we have three pilot projects underway – producing green hydrogen and running buses through fuel cells in Leh, Kargil, and Chamba (Himachal Pradesh).
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