India has just sketched its first big step towards the 2070 goal of achieving carbon net-neutrality. The Centre’s new Master Plan for Evacuation of Power from Hydroelectric Plants in the Brahmaputra Basin, drawn up by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), sets out a bold idea: tap up to 65 gigawatts of hydropower across twelve sub-basins and distribute that energy across the country. The plan also notes that only about 15% of the basin’s water comes from across the border; 85% is collected within India. In simple terms: there’s a lot we can do on our side.
All this lands while China talks of a 60-gigawatt mega-dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo, right at the ‘Great Bend’ where the river turns towards Arunachal Pradesh. It’s sold as clean energy for regional growth and a key piece of China’s race to net zero by 2060, a decade before India’s target.
Beijing says downstream countries won’t face trouble – no harm to flow, no harm to the environment. But let’s be honest: on a river this powerful, those two promises are almost impossible to keep in full. India, as the downstream country, must plan for the worst and shape its own outcomes.
New Delhi hasn’t labelled the CEA plan a “response”, but the timing and scale make it feel like one. If China aims for 60 GW from one massive wall of concrete, India’s answer is different: a chain of dams, spread out in the northeast, together adding up to 65 GW. It’s a quieter kind of ambition, many taps instead of one giant valve.
There is, however, a knot we shouldn’t gloss over. India has long raised concerns about downstream impacts from big dams. So how do we square that with a plan to draw the same or even more power from downstream projects in fragile environments? The honest answer lies in how we build: spreading projects, designing better safeguards, and keeping rivers alive between structures. That’s harder than one mega-project, but it’s also more flexible and, done right, kinder to the river.
Another reason to be hopeful is the grid. India is finally leaning into long-distance, high-voltage power corridors, the kind that ship electricity across states with minimal fewer losses. Think of them as energy highways. They matter because the northeast is rich in water, but the demand is spread across the map. Move power smartly with , and those dams which don’t have to be bigger than they need to be. China has been doing this for years, sending power over great distances and even across time zones. If both countries get good at moving electricity around, an interesting idea appears: trading surplus power across borders in certain seasons or hours, instead of trying to dam every drop. Fewer concrete walls; more clever lines wires.
That, of course, is the big unknown. It would take trust, stable rules, and cool heads. None of these are easy. But if cooperation ever becomes possible, it could ease pressure on the river and still keep the lights on.
India has put a clear marker down: we’re not going to watch from the riverbank. Our plan is to build many well-sited projects, use more of the water that rises and falls within our borders, and move that energy efficiently to where it’s needed. It’s a practical first stride towards 2070 – not flashy, yet requiring sustained focus.
The task ahead is to build wisely, protect the river, and keep people and nature at the centre of every decision. If we can do that, the Brahmaputra can power homes and hopes - without losing its life along the way. The question that remains is not whether India will act. We already have. It’s whether the region can find the maturity to share a river’s power, not just its water.