Why in news?

Recently, the chief ministers of six states signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in New Delhi to pave the way for the long-pending Kishau Multipurpose Project. The Rs 15,000-crore project has been stalled for eight years over cost-sharing disputes. The project will now go before the Union Cabinet for approval.

The signatories were Himachal Pradesh CM, Uttarakhand CM, Uttar Pradesh CM, Haryana CM, Rajasthan CM and Delhi CM. The agreement follows a meeting chaired by Union Home Minister where the six states agreed in principle to move ahead.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• About the Project?
• Why the Dam Was Needed?
• Yamuna Water Allocation under the 1994 MoU
• Why the MoU Was Delayed for Eight Years?
• How the Breakthrough Was Achieved
• Significance for the Yamuna

About the Project?

• The Kishau Multipurpose Project is a proposed dam and hydropower project on the Tons River, a major tributary of the Yamuna
• Key features:
  • Location: along the Himachal Pradesh–Uttarakhand border, straddling Sirmaur district (HP) and Dehradun district (Uttarakhand)
  • Dam: 232.6-metre-high concrete gravity dam
  • Power: 422 MW capacity, generating 1,476 million units of clean hydropower
  • Irrigation potential: about 97,076 hectares
  • Water supply: drinking and industrial water to Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh
  • Storage: capacity of 1,786 million cubic metres (MCM), with live storage of about 1,324 MCM

Why the Dam Was Needed?

• Kishau is one of three storage projects planned in the upper reaches of the Yamuna and its tributaries under an MoU signed in May 1994 by the Yamuna basin states: undivided Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and the NCT of Delhi.
• The other two, Lakhwar and Renukaji, already have MoUs signed and are under implementation.
• These projects were required because there are no storage facilities on the Upper Yamuna, from its source at the Yamunotri glacier to the Okhla barrage in Delhi, a catchment of about 30,000 square kilometres.

Yamuna Water Allocation under the 1994 MoU

• Of the 11.983 billion cubic metres (BCM) of annual utilisable Yamuna water:
  • Haryana: 5.730 BCM
  • Uttar Pradesh: 4.032 BCM
  • Rajasthan: 1.119 BCM
  • Delhi: 0.724 BCM
  • Himachal Pradesh: 0.378 BCM
• After Uttarakhand was carved out in 2000, undivided UP's 4.032 BCM was split as 3.721 BCM for UP and 0.311 BCM for Uttarakhand.

Why the MoU Was Delayed for Eight Years

• Himachal Pradesh held out on two grounds:
  • Cost burden: Under an earlier arrangement, the previous state government agreed to contribute about Rs 800 crore, mainly for the power component. The current government rejected this as against Himachal's financial interest.
  • Disproportionate benefits: Himachal argued it should not invest heavily in a project whose water benefits would flow largely to downstream states like Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan, while it bore the burden of submergence and displacement.
• A 2020 feasibility study estimated that about 2,950 hectares would be submerged, affecting 17 villages and around 5,500 people across Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

How the Breakthrough Was Achieved?

• In June 2026, the Centre announced it would bear 90 per cent of the project's water component cost, with the six states sharing the remaining 10 per cent.
• A special mechanism was devised for Himachal Pradesh:
  • Himachal's allocated water share will be transferred to Delhi and Rajasthan.
  • In return, Delhi and Rajasthan will bear Himachal's share of the power component cost in a 75:25 ratio.
  • Himachal, which does not currently need the power, will receive payment for supplying electricity to neighbouring states.
• Water Benefits to States
  • Storage allocation (MCM): Haryana 633, Uttar Pradesh 411, Rajasthan 124, Delhi 80, Uttarakhand 34, with a share for Himachal that is now being transferred.
  • Flow benefits (cusecs): Haryana 836, Uttar Pradesh 543.2, Rajasthan 163.52, Delhi 105.28.

Significance for the Yamuna

• A key objective is to augment Yamuna flows through regulated storage and release from the Kishau reservoir.
• The Centre and the states have linked the project to the wider goal of Yamuna rejuvenation, expecting the additional flow to improve the availability of cleaner water in the river alongside irrigation, drinking water and power benefits.

Conclusion

The Kishau MoU resolves a decade-old federal deadlock through generous central funding and an innovative cost-benefit swap for Himachal Pradesh.

It marks a significant step towards Upper Yamuna storage, water security for northern states and Yamuna rejuvenation. Implementation must now address submergence, displacement and rehabilitation with equal seriousness.