Adani Power Limited and Druk Green Power Corporation Limited (DGPC), Bhutan’s state-owned renewable energy generation utility, have signed a Shareholders Agreement (SHA) to develop the 770 MW Chamkharchhu-I Hydroelectric Project in Bhutan. The signing ceremony was attended by the Prime Minister of Bhutan, Lyonchen Dasho Tshering Tobgay, along with the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, and representatives of Druk Holding & Investments Limited (DHI), Bhutan Power Corporation Limited (BPC), the DGPC Board and management, and Adani Power.
The Chamkharchhu-I project is the second major hydropower collaboration between Adani Power and DGPC. The companies had signed an agreement for the 570 MW Wangchhu Hydroelectric Project in September 2025. The latest project is also part of the broader 5,000 MW hydropower development programme covered under a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Adani Group and DGPC in May 2025.
The 770 MW project is planned as a peaking run-of-river hydropower project on the Chamkharchhu River in Zhemgang District in central Bhutan. It will be developed under the Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT) model through a 49:51 equity partnership between Adani Power and DGPC. The project will operate under a 30-year concession from the date of commercial operation. Construction is expected to begin in the first half of 2027, with commissioning targeted six years after groundbreaking.
Anil Sardana, Managing Director, Adani Power Ltd., said the project would strengthen the company’s partnership with the Royal Government of Bhutan and DGPC. He said hydropower would play an important role in South Asia’s energy transition and that the project would contribute to energy security, lower carbon intensity and regional sustainability.
The project is expected to help meet Bhutan’s peak winter electricity requirements while enabling surplus green power to be exported to India during the summer months. Dasho Chhewang Rinzin, Managing Director, DGPC, said the project would strengthen Bhutan’s energy security and create opportunities to optimise and export surplus clean energy to India. He added that the partnership would support the development of Bhutan’s renewable energy resources and strengthen energy cooperation between Bhutan and India. Adani Power and DGPC are also evaluating additional hydropower opportunities under the broader 5,000 MW development programme.
Adani Power is part of the Adani portfolio and operates 18,290 MW of installed thermal power capacity across 14 plants in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu, along with a 40 MW solar power plant in Gujarat.
DGPC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Druk Holding & Investments Limited, is Bhutan’s leading renewable energy generation company. It has a generation portfolio of more than 3,500 MW and is working towards Bhutan’s goal of expanding renewable energy capacity to 25,000 MW by 2040.
