Context

• India has become the second-largest supplier of seafarers globally, with over 3.2 lakh personnel serving international shipping.
• They play a crucial role in global trade, energy security, and the Blue Economy, yet operate in a complex system involving multiple jurisdictions, flags of convenience, and diverse stakeholders.
• Recent conflicts in West Asia, the Red Sea, and the Black Sea have exposed the vulnerability of Indian seafarers and underscored the need for stronger protection.

India's Growing Maritime Workforce

• Indian seafarers work across international waters without permanently residing abroad.
• A single voyage may involve an Indian crew member employed by a foreign company, sailing on a vessel registered in another country and carrying cargo owned elsewhere.
• This fragmented structure creates uncertainty regarding responsibility during emergencies, often delaying rescue, legal assistance, and repatriation.

Challenges Faced by Indian Seafarers

• Complex Jurisdictional Responsibility
  • The multinational nature of shipping often blurs accountability among ship-owners, Flag States, insurers, and port authorities.
  • During crises such as attacks, detention, or abandonment, Indian diplomatic missions frequently struggle to identify the responsible authority, delaying assistance.
• Rising Security Threats
  • Commercial ships increasingly operate through conflict-prone waters.
  • Missile attacks, drones, piracy, hostage-taking, and sea mines in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, West Africa, and West Asia have endangered civilian crews.
  • Indian seafarers have become unintended victims of geopolitical conflicts despite having no role in them.
• Crew Abandonment
  • India records one of the highest numbers of abandoned seafarers worldwide.
  • Many face unpaid wages, inadequate food and medical care, confiscated documents, and delayed repatriation.
  • Weak enforcement of the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) by some flag States further worsens their plight.
• Information and Communication Gaps
  • Although ship-tracking technology reveals a vessel's location, it rarely provides information about the crew's safety.
  • Families often remain unaware whether their loved ones are injured, detained, or stranded, causing severe anxiety.
• Limited Consular Preparedness
  • India's diplomatic missions are organised geographically rather than around mobile maritime workers.
  • The absence of specialised maritime officers, coordination with ports, hospitals, insurers, and legal experts often slows emergency response.

Government Initiatives

• The Seafarer First initiative marks an important step toward proactive protection by introducing a tracking dashboard, monitoring of high-risk regions, and liaison officers for affected families.
• The Directorate General of Shipping has also restricted deployment on vessels associated with crew abandonment and advised against deployment through conflict-prone routes such as the Strait of Hormuz.

Existing Gaps

• India still lacks a permanent Maritime Consular Protocol defining responsibilities during emergencies.
• Existing bilateral maritime agreements primarily facilitate employment and recognition of certificates but provide limited provisions for legal assistance, consular access, emergency evacuation, or compensation.
• Additionally, many seafarers receive insufficient information regarding vessel ownership, insurance status, sanctions, or previous abandonment records before signing contracts.

Way Forward

• India should establish a dedicated maritime consular network with trained officers in major shipping hubs.
• The Seafarer Dashboard should remain operational for all designated high-risk maritime regions.
• A comprehensive Maritime Consular Protocol should define procedures for distress response, rescue, legal aid, and repatriation.
• Recruitment agencies must ensure transparency by disclosing vessel ownership, insurance coverage, sanctions, and previous abandonment history before employment.
• Seafarers should have the right to refuse deployment into officially designated conflict zones without facing penalties.
• At the international level, India should collaborate with the Philippines, Indonesia, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to establish common standards on crew welfare, detention, abandonment, and repatriation.
• Stronger enforcement of the Maritime Labour Convention and protection of commercial shipping from attacks are essential to safeguarding civilian seafarers.

Conclusion

• India's maritime ambitions extend beyond ports, shipping corridors, and naval capability.
• They depend equally on protecting the citizens who sustain global maritime commerce.
• Ensuring proactive governance, international cooperation, transparent recruitment, robust consular support, and effective legal safeguards will strengthen India's maritime leadership while fulfilling its responsibility towards every Indian seafarer, regardless of the flag under which they serve.

Context

• India aims to become a Viksit Bharat by 2047, but achieving this goal requires sustained 8–9% GDP growth, productive employment, and inclusive development.
• Rising youth unemployment, slowing structural transformation, increasing income inequality, and low Female Work Participation Rate (WPR) have weakened the economy.
• While external shocks such as the West Asia conflict have exposed these vulnerabilities, domestic policy shocks since 2016 have already slowed job creation and reduced private investment.
• Unlocking women’s employment is essential for restoring growth.

India’s Employment Challenge

• India’s recent growth has been largely jobless, with employment failing to keep pace with the expanding workforce.
• Economic disruptions caused by demonetisation, a poorly implemented GST, the NBFC crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic reversed structural transformation by increasing dependence on agriculture and reducing manufacturing employment.
• The resulting rise in inequality weakened aggregate demand, lowered private investment, and slowed non-farm job creation, limiting India’s long-term growth potential.

Women’s Employment: A Powerful Growth Multiplier

• Expanding women’s participation in the workforce is one of the strongest drivers of economic growth.
• A 10-percentage-point increase in female WPR could raise GDP growth by nearly 2 percentage points.
• Greater female employment:
  • Expands the labour supply and productive capacity.
  • Raises household incomes, consumption, and savings.
  • Improves nutrition, education, and healthcare, strengthening human capital.
  • Promotes productivity, innovation, and competitiveness through gender-diverse workplaces.
• Women’s employment is therefore both an economic necessity and a tool for inclusive development.

Why India’s Female Work Participation Remains Low?

• India’s female WPR remains below 30%, among the lowest globally.
• During the 1980s and early 1990s, women’s participation was high because of agricultural employment.
• However, mechanisation, declining demand for manual labour, and rising education reduced female participation between 2004 and 2018, reflecting the first phase of the U-shaped labour participation hypothesis.

The Illusion of Rising Female Employment after COVID-19

• The rise in female WPR after 2020 largely reflected economic distress rather than quality employment.
• Pandemic-induced reverse migration and shrinking urban jobs forced many women into Unpaid Family Labour (UFL), subsistence farming, animal husbandry, and poultry.
• This distress-driven feminisation of agriculture increased labour participation but not productive or secure employment.

Manufacturing: The Missing Link

• India’s growth has been concentrated in capital-intensive sectors such as finance, IT, and organised manufacturing, which generate limited employment.
• Labour-intensive industries like textiles, garments, footwear, food processing, and MSMEs experienced declining employment between 2013 and 2019.
• Despite Make in India and the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, women’s manufacturing employment in 2019 remained below its 2004 level, recovering only by 2022. Expanding labour-intensive manufacturing is therefore critical for employment generation.

Regional Divide: Lessons from Tamil Nadu

• A sharp North-South divide characterises female employment.
• Tamil Nadu, with only 5–6% of India’s population, employs over 40% of the country’s women factory workers due to its strong textile, electronics, footwear, and automobile industries, combined with better female literacy, transport, hostels, and social acceptance of women workers.
• In contrast, many northern states suffer from weak public education, poor healthcare, high malnutrition, low female mobility, and limited industrialisation.
• Bihar, for instance, has a female WPR of only 15%.

The Crisis of Educated Young Women

• Although secondary education has achieved near gender parity, employment opportunities have not kept pace.
• The number of women aged 15–29 years who are NEET (Not in Employment, Education or Training) has risen from below 70 million before 2004 to over 100 million by 2018.
• Rising unemployment among educated women represents a major loss of India’s demographic dividend.

Way Forward

• India should promote labour- intensive manufacturing, strengthen MSMEs, improve public education and healthcare, enhance women’s safety, transport, childcare, and hostel facilities, expand skill development, and encourage women’s entrepreneurship.
• Replicating the Tamil Nadu model in northern states through industrial clusters and gender-friendly infrastructure can substantially increase female employment and accelerate inclusive growth.

Conclusion

• India cannot achieve Viksit Bharat by excluding half of its population from productive employment.
• Higher female labour force participation, stronger manufacturing, investment in human capital, and greater gender equality are essential for generating employment, boosting productivity, and sustaining long-term economic growth.
• Women’s employment is not merely a social objective but the missing engine of India’s development.

Why in News?

• The United States has imposed 10% additional tariffs on imports from India under Section 301 of the US Trade Act, lower than the 12.5% initially proposed.
• The reduction follows India's decision to prohibit imports of goods produced using forced labour, aligning with US concerns while India and the US continue negotiations on a bilateral trade agreement.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• Why the US Imposed Section 301 Tariffs
• India's Policy Response
• Tiered US Tariff Structure
• Impact on India's Export Competitiveness
• Textile Tariff-Rate Quotas (TRQs) - A Competitive Concern
• Major Exemptions from Section 301 Tariffs
• Future Trade Risks
• Conclusion

Why the US Imposed Section 301 Tariffs?

• Section 301 of the US Trade Act:
  • It authorises the US to investigate and respond to unfair foreign trade practices.
  • Remedies include additional tariffs, import restrictions or negotiated settlements.
  • Unlike Section 122, Section 301 measures remain effective until modified or withdrawn.
• Earlier, the US Trade Representative (USTR) initiated an investigation against 60 trading partners, alleging inadequate measures to prevent imports of goods produced through forced labour.
• The tariffs replace temporary Section 122 tariffs, which could remain in force only for 150 days, whereas Section 301 tariffs are permanent unless reviewed by the US administration.
• The measure seeks to protect American industries from unfair trade practices linked to forced labour.

India's Policy Response:

• Ahead of the US decision, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) amended the Foreign Trade Policy by prohibiting the import of goods manufactured wholly or partly using forced labour.
• Significance:
  • India's compliance reduced the proposed tariff from 12.5% to 10%.
  • It strengthened India's image as a responsible trading partner.
  • The move complements ongoing India-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations.
• DGFT: Functions under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, DGFT implements India's Foreign Trade Policy, and regulates exports and imports through notifications and licensing mechanisms.

Tiered US Tariff Structure:

• Most favoured category:
  • The European Union (EU) and Taiwan receive the most favourable treatment. Additional Section 301 tariffs apply only where existing Most Favoured Nation (MFN) tariffs are below specified thresholds.
  • MFN: A core World Trade Organization (WTO) principle requiring members to extend the same tariff treatment to all WTO members unless covered by FTAs or other recognised exceptions.
• India's category (10% tariff): India joins 17 economies, including Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia, Canada, Mexico, and the United Kingdom.
• Least favoured category (12.5%): Countries facing higher tariffs include China, Vietnam, Russia, Brazil, Australia, Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, and Philippines. Thus, India enjoys a relative tariff advantage over several major export competitors.

Impact on India's Export Competitiveness:

• Positive outcomes:
  • Indian exporters retain competitiveness in labour-intensive sectors such as textiles, garments, leather, and footwear.
  • India's tariff burden is lower than that of China and Vietnam, improving export prospects.
• Limitations:
  • Around 70% of India's exports to the US will now attract existing MFN tariff, plus 10% Section 301 tariff.
  • Products already covered under Section 232 (steel, aluminium, copper, automobiles and auto components) continue to face 25–50% tariffs.

Textile Tariff-Rate Quotas (TRQs) - A Competitive Concern:

• The US introduced TRQs for Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
• Features:
  • Limited quantities of textiles and apparel from these countries can enter the US without Section 301 tariffs for three years.
  • These countries are also encouraged to source US cotton and textile inputs.
• Implications for India: India has not received a TRQ, potentially reducing its competitiveness in textile exports. Bangladesh, a major importer of Indian cotton and fibre, may increasingly shift towards US inputs.

Major Exemptions from Section 301 Tariffs:

• The US has exempted several categories from additional tariffs, including -
  • Aircraft and aviation equipment.
  • Pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical ingredients.
  • Certain fertilisers, pesticides and industrial chemicals.
  • Pig iron, aluminium scrap and strategic minerals.
  • Semiconductor manufacturing equipment.
  • Battery waste and recyclable materials.
  • Agricultural inputs, seeds and selected food products.
  • Medical devices such as MRI machines, ECG equipment and defibrillators.
  • Selected artworks, antiques and collectibles.
• These exemptions aim to prevent supply disruptions and inflation while safeguarding critical industries.

Future Trade Risks:

• Apart from forced labour concerns, the USTR is conducting another investigation into excess manufacturing capacity involving India, China, the EU, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland and others.
• Possible consequences include - Additional trade restrictions or tariffs, greater scrutiny of industrial subsidies and manufacturing policies, and new challenges for India's export sector despite ongoing FTA negotiations.

Conclusion:

• India's prohibition on imports produced through forced labour enabled it to secure a lower 10% US Section 301 tariff, preserving its competitiveness relative to major rivals such as China and Vietnam.
• It strengthens India's position in labour-intensive exports and supports ongoing India-US trade negotiations.
• However, the absence of textile TRQs and the possibility of further US investigations into excess manufacturing capacity indicate that trade relations will continue to evolve, requiring sustained policy reforms and strategic engagement.

Why in news?

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has proposed a sweeping review of the SEBI (Portfolio Managers) Regulations, 2020, through a consultation paper released recently.

This marks one of the most comprehensive reviews of portfolio management services (PMS) regulations since their notification in 2020.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• Why the Overhaul Is Needed?
• What Is Portfolio Management Service (PMS)?
• Key Proposed Reforms
• Balancing Innovation with Investor Protection

Why the Overhaul Is Needed?

• Assets managed by portfolio managers have more than doubled over the past six years, prompting SEBI to modernise the regulatory framework.
• The reforms aim to offer greater flexibility to portfolio managers and broader investment options to sophisticated investors, while adapting to the growing complexity of India's capital markets.

What Is Portfolio Management Service (PMS)?

• PMS is a professional investment service registered under the SEBI (Portfolio Managers) Regulations, 2020.
• A qualified fund manager manages the equity, debt, and other securities portfolio of a high net-worth client.
• Only SEBI-registered corporate entities, companies, or LLPs can legally offer PMS in India.
• SEBI mandates a minimum investment of Rs 50 lakh per client.
• Industry growth
  • PMS assets under management (AUM) rose from Rs 18.07 lakh crore (April 2019) to Rs 42.61 lakh crore (May 2026).
  • Total clients grew from 1.5 lakh to 2.19 lakh over the same period.
  • The number of registered portfolio managers more than doubled — from 226 in 2020 to 515 as of May 2026.

Key Proposed Reforms

• Wider Investment Universe
  • Portfolio managers may be permitted to invest in overseas listed equity and debt securities, aligning PMS rules with those governing mutual funds and alternative investment funds.
  • Investments allowed in "to-be-listed" securities, widening market exposure.
  • Discretionary portfolio managers may invest up to 10% of client AUM in investment-grade unlisted debt securities.
  • Currently, PMS managers cannot invest client funds in foreign securities — though resident individuals can do so independently via the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS), capped at USD 250,000 per financial year.
• New 'Mutual Fund-Only' PMS (MF-PMS) Category
  • A simplified framework aimed at mass-affluent investors, focused exclusively on managing investments in direct plans of mutual funds, ETFs, and specialised investment funds.
  • Requires separate registration as MF-PMS.
  • Minimum client investment proposed to be reduced from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 25 lakh.
  • Minimum net worth requirement for applicants proposed to be lowered from Rs 5 crore to Rs 2 crore.
  • Mutual fund distributors (MFDs) operating under MF-PMS must maintain arm's length separation between their MFD and MF-PMS functions through distinct departments, with client-level segregation — the same client cannot be offered both services by one entity.
• Easing Compliance Burden
  • Greater flexibility in using derivatives for hedging and investment strategies, with exposure allowed up to 1.25 times client AUM.
  • A new framework permitting independent fund managers to operate under registered PMS platforms, with compliance responsibility remaining with the registered portfolio manager.
  • Firms managing assets below Rs 100 crore may be exempted from maintaining a separate dealing room, cutting operational costs for smaller players.

Balancing Innovation with Investor Protection

• SEBI has stressed that the reforms aim to strike a balance between innovation, ease of doing business, and investor safeguards.
• The regulator believes the evolving PMS industry requires a framework that supports greater product diversity while maintaining adequate oversight.

Conclusion

SEBI's proposed PMS overhaul reflects a maturing regulatory approach — expanding investment avenues and lowering entry barriers to serve a broader investor base, while retaining safeguards through segregation norms and enhanced oversight.

If implemented, it could significantly deepen and diversify India's portfolio management landscape.

Why in news?

The Centre is reportedly weighing policy relaxations that could allow Indian airport operators to own airlines. Preliminary internal discussions are underway, though nothing is finalised.

Such a move could open the door for airport operators like the Adani group and GMR group to enter the airline business.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• Background of the Discussion
• Current Regulatory Restrictions
• The Core Concern: Conflict of Interest
• The Counter-Argument: Capital and Efficiency
• Global Practices
• Safeguards Needed, If Policy Changes

Background of the Discussion

• Initial talks on cross-ownership reportedly followed the Adani group's request for an enabling policy environment, though Adani Enterprises has denied evaluating any airline entry proposal.
• The government has been pushing for more airlines in Indian skies, given that IndiGo and the Air India group together hold over 90% of the domestic market share — a near-duopoly.
• The stated objective behind exploring this policy shift is to foster greater competition in the aviation sector.

Current Regulatory Restrictions

• India currently imposes strict limits on cross-ownership between airports and airlines:
  • Operators of India's largest airports — Delhi (GMR, 74% stake) and Mumbai (Adani group, 74% stake) — are barred from owning more than 10% in any scheduled carrier.
• The reverse restriction also applies: airlines face strict limits on owning airports.

The Core Concern: Conflict of Interest

• Experts warned that allowing airport operators to run airlines would create a "massive conflict of interest" against consumer interests.
• Key risk areas
  • Slot allocation: If an airport operator also runs an airline, and is simultaneously the slot coordinator, there is inherent conflict in allocating prime slots between its own airline and competitors.
  • Infrastructure access: Airlines depend on airports for critical facilities — parking bays, check-in counters, aircraft stands, boarding gates, and ground handling. Any perceived favouritism, even unintentional, could trigger anti-competitive practice allegations.
  • Experts note that even without actual discrimination, the appearance of unequal treatment undermines stakeholder confidence — a key concern for anti-trust regulation, which focuses on maintaining a level playing field, not just proven wrongdoing.

The Counter-Argument: Capital and Efficiency

• Experts acknowledge the rationale behind considering this move:
  • Capital access: New airlines often cannot sustain losses for years against dominant incumbents, but well-capitalised airport operators like Adani and GMR can absorb such risk.
  • Efficiency argument: Since airport revenues increasingly depend on passenger footfall, an airport-owning-airline model could incentivise more flights at lower fares rather than fewer at higher fares.

Global Practices

• Aviation regulators worldwide have generally favoured keeping airports and airlines operationally separate:
  • West Asia: In hubs like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Doha, airports and airlines are government-owned but remain distinct corporate entities (e.g., Dubai Airport and Emirates; Etihad and Abu Dhabi airport).
  • Singapore: Changi Airport and Singapore Airlines are linked via state investment but maintain separate management and regulatory oversight.
  • Key distinction: These hub models operate in markets with negligible domestic air traffic and no domestic competition — unlike India, where airlines are largely private and domestic competition is significant.
  • European Union: Enforces some of the world's strictest competition rules, mandating that airport slot coordinators remain functionally independent from any interested party.
  • United States: Most major airports are owned by city/county governments or independent authorities. Federal Aviation Administration grant assurances prohibit airport discrimination among airlines and bar airport revenue from being invested in airlines.
• India's market structure — dominated by private airlines and increasingly private airport operators — makes it structurally closer to Europe than to the West Asian or Singapore hub models.

Safeguards Needed, If Policy Changes

• Experts recommend a watertight regulatory framework, including:
  • Structural separation between airport and airline businesses
  • Independent boards and management teams for each entity
  • Strict protection of carriers' commercially sensitive information
  • Independent airport slot coordinators
  • Transparent gate and terminal allocation policies
  • Enhanced oversight by regulators — the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India (AERA), Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), and the Competition Commission of India (CCI)

Conclusion

Allowing airport operators to own airlines could inject much-needed capital and competition into India's airline duopoly, but it risks compromising the neutrality airports must maintain as shared infrastructure.

Any policy shift will need robust structural and regulatory safeguards to prevent the natural monopoly of airports from tilting the competitive playing field in aviation.

About Arunachaleswarar Temple:

• The Arunachaleshwarar Temple, also known as the Annamalaiyar Temple, is a Hindu temple located at the base of Arunachala Hill in Tiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu.
• It is one of the largest and most ancient temples in India.
• It is dedicated to Lord Arunachalesvara, a form of Lord Shiva.
• The temple’s origin dates back thousands of years, with references in ancient scriptures and Tamil Saiva texts.
• The current structure, however, was built during the period of the early Chola kings (9th century AD), expanded during the period of the later Cholas, Hoysala (Bhosala) kings, and Vijayanagarar Nayakar kings.
• Architecture:
  • The temple is a fine example of South Indian (Dravidian) architecture and sculpture.
  • The temple complex is among the largest in the country.
  • It boasts four gopurams, or gateway towers, richly embellished with intricate carvings and pillars.
  • Notably, the eastern tower, reaching a height of 66 meters and consisting of 11 stories, ranks among the tallest temple towers in India.
  • The temple has 5 precincts. Each of the precincts has a huge Nandi (sacred bull of Shiva) and several towers.
  • The temple complex features numerous halls, with the most prominent being the thousand-pillared hall, constructed during the Vijayanagara period.

About East Asia Summit (EAS):

• It is the Indo-Pacific’s premier forum for strategic dialogue.
• It is the only leader-led forum at which all key Indo-Pacific partners meet to discuss political, security, and economic challenges facing the region.
• It was established in 2005 with the convening of the 1st Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
• Members:
  • The EAS has 19 members: the 11 ASEAN countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam) along with Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Russia, and the United States.
  • Timor-Leste became the latest member of the EAS following its ASEAN accession on 26 October 2025.
  • India is a founding member of EAS.
• ASEAN leads the forum, and the chair rotates annually among ASEAN member states. 
•  Six priority areas of regional cooperation within the framework of the EAS:
  • Environment and Energy,
  • Education,
  • Finance,
  • Global Health Issues and Pandemic Diseases,
  • Natural Disaster Management, and
  • ASEAN Connectivity.
• The EAS is an annual Leaders' Summit usually held in October or November.
• Along with the Leaders' Summit, each year there is an EAS Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and an EAS Economic Ministers’ Meeting.
• Senior officials of EAS participating countries meet throughout the year to prepare for meetings of leaders and ministers and to engage in frank exchanges of views on political, regional security, economic, and other issues.

About Black Sea:

• It is a large inland sea situated at the southeastern extremity of Europe.
• It is located where Europe and Asia meet.
• It is one of the marginal seas of the Atlantic Ocean.
• Bordering Regions:
  • West: Balkan Peninsula (Southeastern Europe).
  • East: Caucasus Mountains.
  • North: East European Plains (Russia & Ukraine).
  • South: Anatolia (Turkey, Western Asia).
• It is bordered by Ukraine to the north, Russia to the northeast, Georgia to the east, Turkey to the south, and Bulgaria and Romania to the west. The Crimean Peninsula juts into the Black Sea from the north.
• Though far inland, it connects with the Atlantic Ocean through a series of other waterways.
  • The Bosporus Strait, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles Strait link the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, and finally, the Atlantic.
• To its east, the Kerch Strait links the Black Sea to the smaller Sea of Azov.
• Major rivers flowing into it include the Danube, Dnieper, Southern Bug, Rioni, and Dniester.
• Ukraine has the highest number of islands in the Black Sea, including the sea’s largest island, Dzharylhach
• The Black Sea has lower salinity than the world’s oceans due to isolation from the Mediterranean.

About Ratle Hydroelectric Project:

• It is an 850 MW hydroelectric power project being built on the Chenab River in the Kishtwar District of Jammu & Kashmir.
• It is a run-of-river project.  
• It is located downstream of the Dulhasti project and upstream of the Baghlihar project.
• The project is implemented by the Ratle Hydroelectric Power Corporation (RHPCL).
  • RHPCL was formed as a joint venture (JV) between Jammu & Kashmir State Power Development Corporation (JKSPDC) and India’s state-owned National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC).
  • NHPC and JKSPDC hold 51% and 49% equity ownership in RHPCL, respectively.
• The construction work is being undertaken by Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited (MEIL).