India's hydropower capacity to soar to 67 GW by 2032

The country is also expected to experience an increase in rainfall.

India has 15 gigawatts (GW) of hydroelectric power projects under construction which could increase the country's total capacity by over 50% to 67 GW by 2031 to 2032 from 42 GW.

In a statement, the Ministry of Power said the Indian Meteorological Department expected higher rainfall in the current financial year which could reverse the trend of reduction in water levels in few reservoirs, following the lightest rainfall since 2018.

“This anticipated increase in rainfall could contribute to replenishment of reservoir capacities which were lost during the scarce rainfall in the previous year,” the ministry said.

It also noted that projects in the Himalayan region get base flow from the contribution of snowmelt.

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The country experienced a decline in hydropower generation in 2023-30234 due to the less rainfall in the southern region which contributed around 22% of the total hydroelectricity.

Aside from this, the natural disasters during the period heavily affected the hydro projects in the Northern and Eastern regions which comprise more than 60% of the total hydro energy generation.