Powering India and Harnessing of Hydro Potential of Northeast India: Strategies Required

Location: Amaltas A, Convention Centre

North East Region of India has a huge hydro potential comprising of 208 Nos. of projects above 25 MW with cumulative installed capacity of about 65 GW. Out of these, about 7GW is existing, 19.5GW is expected by 2035 and 38.5GW is expected beyond 2035. In addition to the above, about 3.7GW of PSPs is expected by 2035 and 7.4GW is expected beyond 2035. These hydro projects would not only help in achieving the country’s Net Zero target by 2070 but also provide balancing and fast ramping facilities which are required due to high RE penetration in the grid.

A comprehensive master plan on transmission system for evacuation of power from this assessed potential has been published by CEA in Oct 2025. In view of the low demand of NER, a robust and resilient transmission system would be required to export this huge quantum of power to various parts of the country and beyond. The entire transmission system has been divided into two major phases i.e. by 2035 and beyond 2035.

The studies and analysis of establishment of various pooling points have been carried out in consultation with various Hydro developers (central sector as well as private generating companies), NERPC, State utilities, CTU, Grid-India etc. A total of 7 numbers of ±800kV, 6000MW HVDC Bipole links, high capacity 765kV and 400kV links have been identified to integrate these hydro generations to the National grid.

The transmission plan envisages the addition of 31,397 ckm transmission lines (including 21,000 ckm HVDC corridor) and 109935 MVA+MW capacity (including 42,000 MW HVDC) at an estimated cost of about ₹6,43,000 Cr. Most of these projects are located in remote areas with only basic roads infrastructure. Establishment of generation project and associated transmission systems in these areas would be a challenging task, with major hurdles expected in right of way clearances, hilly & difficult terrain, geological surprises, large forest areas, transportation constraints etc. Further, the HVDCs and high-capacity HVAC lines have to pass through Right of Way constrained Siliguri corridor.

One of these transmission projects with about 450ckm of transmission line and 2000MVA of transformation capacity is under bidding with an implementation schedule of about 35-36 months and some of the prospective bidders have already started requesting for increase in the implementation timeframe citing aforementioned constraints.

This session examines the strategic development of the North East’s significant hydro and pumped storage potential to support India’s Net Zero 2070 pathway and rising renewable integration. It will address transmission master planning, HVDC and high-capacity corridor development, grid evacuation strategies and implementation challenges across remote and terrain-constrained regions—defining the infrastructure, policy coordination and execution frameworks required to integrate this capacity reliably into the national grid.