New Delhi, Oct. 15 -- India plans to set up 208 hydropower plants on the Brahmaputra with 64.9GW of power generation capacity and 11.1GW of pump storage capacity by 2047 to establish its downstream rights on the river.

The move is part of a wider 'master plan for evacuation of power from hydroelectric plants in the Brahmaputra basin', a massive Rs.6.42 trillion infrastructure project designed by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) to harness and transmit the vast, untapped hydropower potential of the northeast region to the national grid.

Unveiled on 14 October, the plan is India's response to China's goal of developing the humongous 60GW Medog dam on the Yarlang Tsangpo river (the Brahmaputra in China), which has raised concerns of...