Koldam Dam – 800MW Hydroelectric Power Project on Sutlej River

The Koldam Dam Hydropower Project is an embankment dam on the Sutlej River near Barmana on the Chandigarh-Manali Highway (NH-21) and the border of Bilaspur district and Mandi district, Himachal Pradesh, India. The total capacity of the project is 800 MW, and, when operational, the HEPP is expected to generate approximately 3,054GWh of electricity per annum. The host state Himachal Pradesh is entitled to receive 15% of the generated power free of cost and a further 12% at bus-bar rate.

India’s state-run National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) is the owner and developer of this hydel project. Koldam HEPP was initially planned to be operational in 2009, but its commissioning has been postponed to 2014 due to environmental and geographical hurdles faced during its construction. The reservoir created by the dam can hold up to 560 million cubic metres of water.

The Koldam Dam was planned to start in 2000 and its first brick was fixed in the same year by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, but the proper construction started in 2004 Impounding of the reservoir started in December 2013 and the 4x200MW (800MW) hydropower plant was fully-commissioned in June 2015. Total investment in the project was Rs45.27bn (approximately $711m).

The Koldam Dam has natural aquatic beauty and it is a fantastic place to enjoy and have picnics. The tourists love visiting this place for its abundant natural beauty. Some even like to see huge machinery and equipments that have been used in generating elelctricity at this giant project.