Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology Dr. Jitendra Singh, who also serves as Member of Parliament from Kathua, on Friday, 19 June 2026, highlighted the Shahpur Kandi dam project as a transformative initiative for bordering districts of Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab, sharing the development via his official X account under the hashtags #Kathua and #12YearsOfSeva.

Context

The Shahpur Kandi project is a multipurpose dam on the Ravi River, designed to deliver irrigation water and hydropower to districts on both sides of the Jammu and Kashmir–Punjab border. Kathua, Dr. Jitendra Singh's constituency, is among the districts directly in line for irrigation and power benefits. The minister's post, tagged under his twelve-year service milestone, frames the project as a tangible outcome of sustained political attention to the region.

The Ravi River's waters are allocated to India under the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, a bilateral agreement with Pakistan that earmarked the eastern rivers — Ravi, Beas and Sutlej — for Indian development. The Shahpur Kandi project is one of the key vehicles through which India seeks to translate that treaty entitlement into irrigation canals and electricity for border communities.

Policy Backdrop

The project was originally conceived in the early 1990s but remained stalled for decades due to inter-state water-sharing disputes between Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab. A bilateral agreement between the two state governments in 2018 broke the deadlock and allowed construction to resume. Since then, the project has been positioned within the broader infrastructure acceleration in Jammu and Kashmir that followed the region's reorganisation in 2019.

The Union government has consistently prioritised completion of long-pending irrigation and hydropower schemes on the eastern rivers to maximise India's utilisation of its treaty-allocated water share. The Shahpur Kandi project fits squarely within that policy thrust, alongside similar initiatives on the Ravi and other rivers in the northern belt.

Stakeholders and Impact

Farmers in Kathua and adjoining districts of Punjab stand to gain the most directly, with the project promising expanded irrigation coverage that could reduce dependence on rainfall and groundwater. Border communities in both the union territory and the neighbouring state are also expected to benefit from improved power availability once the hydropower component becomes operational.

The project carries strategic significance beyond agriculture: completing water infrastructure in the border belt is seen as part of a wider effort to strengthen economic integration and development in districts that have historically lagged behind more connected urban centres.

What's Next

Attention will now turn to official commissioning timelines, actual irrigation area brought under coverage, and the megawatt capacity delivered by the hydropower component once the project reaches full operation. Follow-up announcements on associated canal networks and distribution infrastructure in Kathua and neighbouring districts are likely to be watched closely by local stakeholders and policymakers alike. Dr. Jitendra Singh's framing of the project under #12YearsOfSeva suggests it may feature prominently in his constituency outreach in the months ahead.