Union Science and Technology Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh on Thursday, 18 June 2026, highlighted the near-completion of the Shahpur Kandi National Project on the Kathua district border, calling it the fulfilment of a decades-old aspiration for the people of Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab.

Context

The Shahpur Kandi National Project is a multipurpose dam project on the Ravi river, designed to harness India's treaty-allocated share of the river's waters for irrigation and hydropower. Dr. Jitendra Singh noted in his post that the project's origins lie in the framework established by the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, under which India was allocated the exclusive use of the eastern rivers — Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej — with Ravi being the largest among them.

The central concern driving the project, as the minister described it, was ensuring that India's rightful share of Ravi's waters was utilised domestically 'without allowing it to flow into Pakistan.'

Policy Backdrop

The project's history stretches back over four decades. The foundation stone was laid in 1984 by then Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi, but her assassination later that year effectively stalled the initiative. Dr. Jitendra Singh stated plainly that 'successive governments, both at the Centre and in J&K State, remained indifferent' for nearly three decades.

It was only after the BJP government took office in 2014 that efforts to revive the project were formally initiated. Chief Secretaries of Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab were brought into the process, fresh documentation was prepared, and in February 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the project's revival at a public rally in Jammu. The minister's post underscores this as a deliberate policy reversal after years of institutional neglect.

Stakeholders and Impact

The project is positioned to directly benefit farming communities in the bordering districts of Jammu and Kashmir — particularly Kathua district — and Punjab, through expanded irrigation infrastructure and agricultural growth. Dr. Jitendra Singh described the project as one 'set to transform bordering districts of J&K and Punjab through enhanced irrigation and agricultural growth.'

The broader significance lies in India's long-standing goal of fully operationalising its entitlements under the Indus Waters Treaty. River valley projects of this nature represent a strategic use of treaty rights that successive administrations had left underutilised, leaving allocated water flowing unused into Pakistan.

What's Next

With the project described as 'almost complete,' attention will now turn to the rollout of actual irrigation benefits — the area brought under irrigation, agricultural productivity gains in Kathua and adjacent districts, and the hydropower generation capacity once the dam becomes fully operational. Official figures on irrigated area and power output will be the key metrics by which the project's real-world impact is measured.

The Shahpur Kandi project's trajectory — from a 1984 foundation stone to a near-complete dam in 2026 — illustrates both the chronic delays that have plagued India's large river infrastructure projects and the current government's stated priority of completing long-pending border-area schemes.