Six States, UT sign Kishau multipurpose project agreement; CM Sukhu hails ‘major victory’ for Himachal

Five States — Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan — and Delhi on Tuesday (September 15, 2026) signed an agreement for the implementation of the 422 MW Kishau multipurpose project, to be built at an estimated cost of ₹15,624 crore.

The project will come up on the Tons river along the Uttarakhand-Himachal Pradesh border.

In the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Jal Shakti Minister C. R. Patil, the Chief Ministers of the six States and UT— including, Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath, Uttarakhand Pushkar Singh Dhami, Himachal Pradesh Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Rajasthan Bhajan Lal Sharma, Delhi Rekha Gupta and Haryana Nayab Singh Saini signed the Kishau Project agreement in New Delhi.

Terming the agreement as “historic”, Mr. Shah said that since Narendra Modi became Prime Minister, this is the tenth water dispute that is now set to be resolved.

The Indian government will bear approximately 90% financial burden of this project, while the remaining 10% cent will be borne by the participating States and UT in accordance with the 1994 agreement.

A 232.6-metre-high concrete gravity dam will be constructed on the Tons River, which flows along the border of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, with a water storage capacity of 1,562 million cubic metres. It will irrigate 97,000 hectares of land and generate 1,476 million units of clean hydropower. He said that Delhi will be the biggest beneficiary of the project, Mr. Shah added.

Mr. Sukhu said Himachal government’s efforts have resulted in breaking the eight-year-old deadlock regarding bearing the financial cost surrounding this project. “The previous state government of Bharatiya Janata Party had agreed to give ₹800 crore state’s share, which our government refused in the interest of the state, keeping in view the limited resources of the state,” he told media persons.

Th CM said Himachal would suffer the greatest loss from the project, as it is the State’s population that will be displaced, hence, asking Himachal to shoulder an additional financial burden would therefore be unfair, he said, adding that the State’s contribution to the nation’s progress deserved suitable compensation.

“The state will get its share of 1000 million units per year from the power component of the project, which amounts to likely more than Rs. 1000 crore after the construction of the project, which is yet another addition to the state’s financial resources. This is a major victory in the state’s battle of the state in its fight for securing the legitimate share of the state in power projects,” he added.