Overview

• Premier Li Qiang presided over the July 19 groundbreaking of the 1.2 trillion yuan, five-station Yarlung Tsangpo hydropower project near the Arunachal Pradesh border.
• Once operational, the dam is expected to generate over 300 billion kilowatt-hours annually—surpassing the Three Gorges Dam—and supply power beyond Tibet’s local grid.
• China’s foreign ministry has insisted the project will not harm lower riparian countries and has pledged ongoing hydrological data sharing through the Expert Level Mechanism.
• India’s central government says it is monitoring the construction closely, while state leaders have split views—Arunachal Pradesh’s chief minister warned of a possible “water bomb” and Assam’s leader downplayed immediate risks.
• Environmentalists and engineers caution that the dam site’s geologically volatile, biodiverse gorge could face irreversible ecological damage and reservoir-induced seismic threats.