Six States Sign MoA for Kishau Multipurpose Project on Tons River with 90% Central Funding for Water Component

Key facts

• Chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi and Haryana signed the Memorandum of Agreement for the Kishau multipurpose project on September 16, 2026, in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
• The Kishau project is proposed on the Tons River, a major tributary of the Yamuna, in Uttarakhand's Dehradun district and Himachal Pradesh's Sirmaur district.
• The project envisages a 232.6-metre-high concrete gravity dam with a live storage capacity of 1,562 million cubic metres, irrigation benefits to about 0.97 lakh hectares, and annual energy generation of approximately 1,476 million units.
• The meeting decided that 90% of the cost of the water component will be borne by the Central government, with the remaining 10% shared by the six participating states.
• The project will be implemented by Kishau Corporation Limited, a joint venture of the Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments.
• Himachal Pradesh's share of water will be allocated to Delhi and Rajasthan in return for sharing the cost of Himachal Pradesh's portion of the power component.
• The Kishau agreement is the third project-specific construction agreement among the six Upper Yamuna basin states, after Renuka ji and Lakhwar multipurpose projects, which are already under construction.
• With the MoA signed, the Kishau project will be placed before the Union Cabinet for approval.
• The Upper Yamuna basin states had signed a Memorandum of Understanding on May 12, 1994, for sharing the utilisable surface water of the Yamuna up to Okhla Barrage.