NHPC

June 2 (Reuters) - NHPC Ltd NHPC.NS:

• INDIA TO EXERCISE OVERSUBSCRIPTION OPTION FOR 3% STAKE IN NHPC OFS - FILING

Source text: ID:nNSE6QZD7M

Further company coverage: NHPC.NS

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June 1 (Reuters) - The Indian government will sell up to a 6% stake in NHPC NHPC.NS via an offer for sale, an exchange filing by the hydropower company showed on Monday.

Here are some details:

• The OFS consists of a base offer of up to a 3% equity stake in the company, with an option to sell an additional 3%.

• The floor price has been fixed at 71 rupees per share, implying about an 8% discount to NHPC's last closing price.

• An OFS allows promoters or large shareholders of listed companies to sell shares through stock exchanges.

• The stake sale is part of the Indian government's broader divestment and asset monetisation program. It holds a 67.4% stake in NHPC.

• The government has a divestment and asset monetisation target of 800 billion rupees for fiscal year 2027, according to the Union Budget.

• In May, the government sold an 8% stake in Central Bank of India and a 2% stake in Coal India via OFS.

(Reporting by Nishit Navin in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)

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MUMBAI, May 22 (Reuters) - India's NHPC NHPC.NS is planning to raise 20 billion rupees ($208.5 million), including a greenshoe option of 15 billion rupees, by selling separately transferable redeemable principal part (STRPP) bonds with six- to 15-year maturities, three merchant bankers said on Friday.

The state-run hydroelectric power company has invited coupon and commitment bids from investors on Tuesday, they said.

NHPC did not immediately reply to a Reuters email seeking comment.

Here is the list of deals reported so far on May 22:

*Size includes base plus greenshoe for some issues

($1 = 95.9300 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia and Khushi Malhotra; Editing by Sonia Cheema)

(([email protected], [email protected]))

May 15 (Reuters) - NHPC Ltd NHPC.NS:

• MARCH-QUARTER CONSOL NET PROFIT 14.60 BILLION RUPEES

• MARCH-QUARTER CONSOL REVENUE FROM OPERATIONS 28.16 BILLION RUPEES

• MARCH-QUARTER RESULTS INCLUDE DEFERRED TAX OF 19.7 BILLION RUPEES

Source text: ID:nnAZN4SWLDS

Further company coverage: NHPC.NS

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April 8 (Reuters) - NHPC Ltd NHPC.NS:

• INVESTMENT APPROVAL FOR KAMALA HYDRO ELECTRIC PROJECT (1720 MW)

• INVESTMENT OF 260.7 BILLION RUPEES

Source text: ID:nBSE8hgVkw

Further company coverage: NHPC.NS

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March 27 (Reuters) - NHPC Ltd NHPC.NS:

• NHPC - SIGNS IMPLEMENTATION AGREEMENT FOR PROJECTS WITH JAMMU & KASHMIR STATE POWER DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION LIMITED

Source text: ID:nBSE8fWvkb

Further company coverage: NHPC.NS

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March 25 (Reuters) - NHPC Ltd NHPC.NS:

• NHPC - APPROVED PROPOSAL REGARDING BORROWING PLAN FOR RAISING OF DEBT UPTO 80 BILLION RUPEES DURING FY 2026-27

• NHPC - RAISING OF DEBT THROUGH NON-CONVERTIBLE CORPORATE BONDS

Source text: ID:nBSE3y14bM

Further company coverage: NHPC.NS

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March 18 (Reuters) - NHPC Ltd NHPC.NS:

• TO CONSIDER PROPOSAL REGARDING BORROWING PLAN FOR FINANCIAL YEAR 2026-27

Source text: ID:nBSE4zXVq7

Further company coverage: NHPC.NS

(([email protected];))

MUMBAI, Feb 25 (Reuters) - India's NHPC NHPC.NS has accepted bids worth 20 billion rupees ($220.1 million) for separately transferable redeemable principal part (STRPP) bonds with six-year to 15-year maturities, three merchant bankers said on Wednesday.

The state-run hydroelectric power company will pay an annual coupon of 7.29% and had invited coupon and commitment bids from investors earlier in the day, they said.

NHPC did not immediately reply to a Reuters email seeking comment.

Here is the list of deals reported so far on February 25:

*Size includes base plus greenshoe for some issues

($1 = 90.8840 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia; Editing by Sumana Nandy)

(([email protected]))

Feb 23 (Reuters) - NHPC Ltd NHPC.NS:

• AWARD PRONOUNCED BY ARBITRAL TRIBUNAL FOR KISHANGANGA PROJECT

Source text: ID:nBSE9bZJM1

Further company coverage: NHPC.NS

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Feb 20 (Reuters) - NHPC Ltd NHPC.NS:

• NHPC - APPROVES 27.09 BILLION RUPEES INVESTMENT FOR URI-I STAGE-II PROJECT

• NHPC - APPROVES 29.94 BILLION RUPEES INVESTMENT FOR DULHASTI STAGE-II PROJECT

Source text: ID:nNSE9hjg88

Further company coverage: NHPC.NS

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Feb 4 (Reuters) - NHPC Ltd NHPC.NS:

• NHPC DEC-QUARTER CONSOL NET PROFIT 2.19 BILLION RUPEES

• NHPC DEC-QUARTER CONSOL REVENUE FROM OPERATIONS 22.21 BILLION RUPEES

• NHPC - DIVIDEND OF 1.40 RUPEES PER SHARE

• NHPC - PROPOSAL FOR WITHDRAWAL OF NOMINEE DIRECTOR OF NHPC FROM BOARD OF PTC INDIA

Source text: [ID:]

Further company coverage: NHPC.NS

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Jan 30 (Reuters) - NHPC Ltd NHPC.NS:

• DECLARES COMMERCIAL OPERATION OF UNIT #3 (250 MW)

Source text: ID:nBSE2YN1Y7

Further company coverage: NHPC.NS

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NEW DELHI, Jan 27 (Reuters) - India will stop setting annual targets for clean energy tenders after missing last year's goal and building up a large backlog of projects without buyers, a senior government official said.

Indian developers are already sitting on the rights to build around 43 gigawatts of renewable power for which they have yet to find customers. State utilities have delayed buying clean power, expecting prices to fall and citing uncertainty over power delivery due to delays in transmission infrastructure.

India's clean energy ministry has asked renewable implementation agencies to find buyers for the power from those tenders, Reuters reported in November.

"As per their (implementation agencies') initial evaluation, they are still confident that they will be able to sell quite a lot of power out of that (backlog)," Santosh Kumar Sarangi, a top official at the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, told Reuters in an interview.

Sarangi said less than half of the unsold capacity may be cancelled.

Against this backdrop, the government plans to change how clean energy tenders are issued, moving away from fixed annual targets. Instead, new tenders will be floated only after assessing demand from state power utilities, Sarangi said.

India had initially planned to auction about 50 GW of new clean energy capacity last year but ended up tendering only around 15 GW, after auctioning about 50 GW each in 2023 and 2024.

Despite the slowdown, Sarangi said India remains on track to meet its target of 500 GW of non-fossil fuel power capacity by 2030. The country added about 38 GW of clean energy capacity in 2025.

"We are not looking at a figure because we have pending bids that need to be finalised," Sarangi said, adding that agencies are engaging with state governments to assess demand.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy may also consider changes to the structure of renewable energy implementation agencies, he said.

Power producers NTPC NTPC.NS, NHPC NHPC.NS and SJVN SJVN.NS, which also act as federal renewable tendering agencies, could be relieved of that role, potentially leaving the Solar Energy Corp of India (SECI) as the main agency handling clean energy tenders.

The power producers have asked the government to relieve them from their role as implementation agencies and the government is evaluating the requests, the official said.

Among these agencies, NHPC has the largest volume of unsold tenders at about 15.8 GW, while SECI has the smallest at around 3.9 GW, according to a power ministry document reviewed by Reuters.

(Reporting by Sethuraman NR; editing by Mayank Bhardwaj)

(([email protected]; (+91 9945291420); Reuters Messaging: [email protected]))

Jan 8 (Reuters) - NHPC Ltd NHPC.NS:

• NHPC - BOARD APPROVES ISSUANCE OF BONDS UP TO 20 BILLION RUPEES

Source text: ID:nBSE6ktbXJ

Further company coverage: NHPC.NS

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Dec 29 (Reuters) - NHPC Ltd NHPC.NS:

• SHAREHOLDING IN RATLE HYDROELECTRIC POWER CORP CHANGED FROM 59.51% TO 49.72%

Source text: ID:nNSE8FwqbT

Further company coverage: NHPC.NS

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NEW DELHI, Oct 13 (Reuters) - India's power planning authority has drawn up a 6.4 trillion rupees ($77 billion) transmission plan to move more than 76 gigawatts of hydroelectric capacity from the Brahmaputra basin by 2047 to meet rising electricity demand, the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) said on Monday.

In a report released on Monday, the CEA said the plan covers 208 large hydro projects across 12 sub‑basins in the northeastern states, with 64.9 GW of potential capacity and an additional 11.1 GW from pumped‑storage plants.

The Brahmaputra River, which rises in Tibet, China, and flows through India and Bangladesh, holds significant hydro potential in its Indian stretch, particularly in Arunachal Pradesh on the China border.

The basin's transboundary nature and proximity to China make water management and infrastructure planning a strategic concern, amid India's fears that a Chinese dam on the Yarlung Zangbo, the river's upper course before it enters India, could cut dry‑season flows on the Indian side by up to 85%.

The Brahmaputra basin spans parts of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Sikkim, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland and West Bengal, and holds more than 80% of India's untapped hydro potential, the report said, with Arunachal Pradesh alone accounting for 52.2 GW.

Phase one of the plan, running to 2035, will require 1.91 trillion rupees, while phase two will cost 4.52 trillion rupees, according to the CEA.

The CEA's plan also includes projects allocated to central public sector utilities such as NHPC NHPC.NS , NEEPCO, and SJVN SJVN.NS, with some projects already in the pipeline.

India aims to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels by having 500 GW of non-fossil power generation capacity by 2030 and becoming net zero by 2070.

(Reporting by Sethuraman NR; Editing by Tasim Zahid)

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Adds details in paragraphs 2-9

NEW DELHI, Sept 22 (Reuters) - The Indian government is planning to sell minority stakes in about half a dozen state-run companies, divestment secretary Arunish Chawla told television channel CNBC-TV18 on Monday.

Chawla did not disclose which companies will be considered for the sale of stakes, but Reuters has previously reported that India has plans to sell shares in five public sector banks including UCO BankUCBK.NS and Bank of MaharashtraBMBK.NS.

India also has to reduce its shareholding in the country's largest insurer, Life Insurance Corporation of India LIFI.NS, to meet the market regulator's minimum public shareholding norms.

Chawla said the government will make an initial public offering (IPO) of a state-run firm in the natural resources sector in the current financial year. The IPO could be of a state-run company or their subsidiaries, he added.

Chawla did not name the company, but ONGC ONGC.NS and NHPC NHPC.NS have been exploring listing of their green arms, ONGC Green Energy and NHPC Renewable Energy, respectively.

Minority stake sales and IPOs will help boost divestment proceeds for the government. India plans to raise 470 billion rupees through stake sales and asset monetisation in the current financial year through March 31, 2026.

India's receipts from dividends it receives from public sector companies would exceed its projected target, Chawla said. India has estimated 690 billion rupees ($7.83 billion) through dividends from state-run firms in the current financial year.

($1 = 88.1363 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Nikunj Ohri, Editing by YP Rajesh & Shri Navaratnam)

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Sept 4 (Reuters) - NHPC Ltd NHPC.NS:

• NHPC LTD - APPOINTS BHUPENDER GUPTA AS CHAIRMAN & MANAGING DIRECTOR

Source text: ID:nBSE8NYC8j

Further company coverage: NHPC.NS

(([email protected];;))

Sept 1 (Reuters) - NHPC Ltd NHPC.NS:

• MINISTRY OF POWER GRANTS APPROVAL TO ENTRUST SANJAY KUMAR SINGH AS CHAIRMAN, MD

Source text: ID:nBSE2nxrYT

Further company coverage: NHPC.NS

(([email protected];;))

By Sarita Chaganti Singh and Krishna N. Das

PARONG, India, Aug 25 (Reuters) - India fears a planned Chinese mega-dam in Tibet will reduce water flows on a major river by up to 85% during the dry season, according to four sources familiar with the matter and a government analysis seen by Reuters, prompting Delhi to fast-track plans for its own dam to mitigate the effects.

The Indian government has been considering projects since the early 2000s to control the flow of water from Tibet's Angsi Glacier, which sustains more than 100 million people downstream in China, India and Bangladesh. But the plans have been hindered by fierce and occasionally violent resistance from residents of the border state of Arunachal Pradesh, who fear their villages will be submerged and way of life destroyed by any dam.

Then in December, China announced that it would build the world's largest hydropower dam in a border county just before the Yarlung Zangbo river crosses into India. That triggered fears in New Delhi that its longtime strategic rival - which has some territorial claims in Arunachal Pradesh - could weaponize its control of the river, which originates in the Angsi Glacier and is known as the Siang and Brahmaputra in India.

India's largest hydropower company in May moved survey materials under armed police protection near a prospective site of the Upper Siang Multipurpose Storage Dam, which would be the country's biggest dam, if completed. Senior Indian officials have also been holding meetings about accelerating construction this year, including one organized in July by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office, according to two of the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive government matters.

Delhi's concerns were described in the undated Indian government analysis of the Chinese dam's impact, the specifics of which Reuters corroborated with four sources and is reporting for the first time.

Beijing hasn't released detailed plans about the dam's construction, but the analysis drew on past work conducted by Indian government-affiliated institutions like the Central Water Commission and accounted for the expected size of the Chinese project, which broke ground in July and will cost nearly $170 billion.

Delhi estimates the Chinese dam will allow Beijing to divert as much as 40 billion cubic meters of water, or just over a third of what is received annually at a key border point, according to the sources and the document. The impact would be especially acute in the non-monsoon months, when temperatures rise and lands become barren across swathes of India.

The Upper Siang project would alleviate that with its projected 14 BCM of storage capacity, allowing India to release water during the dry season. That could mean the major regional city of Guwahati, which is dependent on water-intensive industry and farming, would see a reduction in supply of 11%, according to the sources and the document, as opposed to 25% if the Indian dam isn't built.

The project could also mitigate any move by Beijing to release devastating torrents of water downstream, the sources said.

If the dam is at its minimum drawdown level - where water is stored at less than 50% of its height - it would be able to fully absorb any excess water released from a breach in Chinese infrastructure, according to the document and the sources. India is considering a proposal to keep 30% of its dam empty at any time in order to account for unexpected surges, two of the sources said.

A spokesperson for China's foreign ministry said in response to Reuters' questions that the hydropower projects "have undergone rigorous scientific research on safety and environmental protection, and will not adversely impact the water resources, ecology, or geology of downstream countries."

"China has always maintained a responsible attitude toward the development and utilization of transboundary rivers, and has maintained long-term communication and cooperation with downstream countries such as India and Bangladesh," the spokesperson added.

Modi's office and the Indian ministries responsible for water and external affairs did not respond to Reuters' questions. State-owned hydropower major NHPC also did not return a request for comment.

India's foreign ministry has said that top diplomat S. Jaishankar raised concerns about the dam during a meeting with his Chinese counterpart on Aug. 18. A Jaishankar deputy also told lawmakers in August that the government was implementing measures to safeguard the lives and livelihoods of citizens in downstream areas, including building the dam.

India has itself been accused by Pakistan, a Chinese ally that it briefly clashed with in May, of weaponizing water. Delhi this year suspended its participation in a 1960 water-sharing treaty with Islamabad and is considering diverting flows from another crucial river away from its downstream neighbour.

An international tribunal has ruled that India must adhere to the agreement but Delhi says the panel lacks jurisdiction.

DEVELOPMENT OR DESTRUCTION?

When NHPC workers moved surveying materials near the village of Parong in May, angry locals damaged their machinery, destroyed a nearby bridge and looted the tents of police sent to guard the operation.

Many of them are members of Arunachal's Adi community, who live off paddy, orange and sweet lime farms in the mist-shrouded hills and valleys nourished by the Siang.

The villagers have set up makeshift watch posts on regional roads to deny access to NHPC workers. That has forced security personnel to trek miles, often under cover of night, to reach a prospective site of the dam.

At least 16 Adi villages are likely to be lost to the storage area of the dam, directly affecting an estimated 10,000 people, according to two of the sources. Community leaders say more than 100,000 people will be impacted overall.

"The cardamom, paddy, jackfruit and pear we grow on this land help educate our children and support our family," said Odoni Palo Pabin, an Adi grocer and mother of two. "We will fight the dam to death."

The dam has the support of Arunachal's chief minister, who is a member of Modi's party and has called the Chinese project an existential threat.

The project will "ensure water security and provide flood moderation to counter any potential water surges," the state government said in a statement, adding that it decided in June to engage in detailed compensation discussions with families that could be affected by the dam.

Lawmaker Alo Libang, an Adi who represents an area that would be submerged by the Indian project, said he believed locals could be convinced to move if they received generous compensation.

NHPC has plans to spend more than $3 million on education and emergency infrastructure to incentivize the villagers to move elsewhere, three of the sources said, citing instructions from Modi's office.

In one sign of progress, three villages in the area recently agreed to let NHPC officials carry out dam-related work, according to the Arunachal government and dozens of locals.

India has a history of activist movements against large dams, which have sometimes slowed these projects by years or forced them to scale down.

Even if the Upper Siang dam gets the go-ahead, it could take a decade to build after breaking ground, according to four of the sources. That means the project would likely be completed after China's project, which Beijing expects to start generating power by the early-to-mid 2030s.

The delay means an Indian project would be vulnerable during construction if Beijing suddenly releases water during the monsoon season, triggering a surge that could wash away temporary dams, two of the sources said.

International experts and Adi activists have also warned that building large dams in seismically active Tibet and Arunachal could heighten risks for downstream communities.

The Chinese "dam is being built in a zone of high seismicity and in a zone that experiences extreme weather events," said Sayanangshu Modak, an expert on the India-China water relationship at the University of Arizona.

"These kinds of extreme weather events trigger landslides, mudslides, glacial lake outburst flooding," he said. "So that raises concerns about dam safety... it's a very legitimate concern and India should engage with China."

(Reporting by Sarita Chaganti Singh in New Delhi and Krishna N. Das in Arunachal Pradesh; Additional reporting by Laurie Chen in Beijing and David Stanway in Singapore; Graphics by Jitesh Chowdhury; Editing by Katerina Ang)

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Aug 21 (Reuters) - NHPC Ltd NHPC.NS:

• TO CONSIDER REVISED BORROWING PLAN FOR 2025-26

Source text: ID:nBSE6kPdq7

Further company coverage: NHPC.NS

(([email protected];;))

Aug 12 (Reuters) - NHPC Ltd NHPC.NS:

• NHPC - RAISED 20 BILLION RUPEES VIA ISSUE OF BONDS ON PRIVATE PLACEMENT BASIS

Source text: ID:nnAZN4CSJBK

Further company coverage: NHPC.NS

(([email protected];))

MUMBAI, Aug 8 (Reuters) - India's NHPC NHPC.NS accepted bids worth 20 billion rupees ($228.05 million) for bonds maturing in two years, three bankers said on Friday.

It will pay a coupon of 6.40%, and had invited commitment bids for the issue earlier in the day, they said.

The company did not respond to a Reuters email seeking comment.

Here is the list of deals reported so far on August 8:

*Size includes base plus greenshoe for some issues

($1 = 87.7000 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Khushi Malhotra and Dharamraj Dhutia; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair)

(([email protected], [email protected]))

July 30 (Reuters) - NHPC Ltd NHPC.NS:

• APPROVES BOND ISSUE UP TO 20 BILLION RUPEES

• ISSUE OF BONDS IN ONE OR MORE TRANCHES THROUGH PRIVATE PLACEMENT

Source text: ID:nBSE4sc2qp

Further company coverage: NHPC.NS

(([email protected];;))

July 25 (Reuters) - NHPC Ltd NHPC.NS:

• NHPC LTD - TO RAISE UP TO 20 BILLION RUPEES THROUGH BONDS

Source text: ID:nBSE7lfPSm

Further company coverage: NHPC.NS

(([email protected];;))

June 20 (Reuters) - ACME Solar Holdings Ltd ACMO.NS:

• SIGNS 25-YEAR PPA WITH NHPC FOR 250 MW PROJECT

• PPA SIGNED AT 4.56 RUPEES PER KWH WITH 40% CUF

Source text: ID:nBSE4zP1Vd

Further company coverage: ACMO.NS

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Updates with fresh India remarks

By Sarita Chaganti Singh, Krishna N. Das, Aftab Ahmed, Charlotte Greenfield, Ariba Shahid

NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD, May 16 (Reuters) - India is considering plans to dramatically increase the water it draws from a major river that feeds Pakistani farms downstream, as part of retaliatory action for a deadly April attack on tourists that New Delhi blames on Islamabad, according to four people familiar with the matter.

Delhi "put in abeyance" its participation in the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, which governs usage of the Indus river system, shortly after 26 civilians in Indian Kashmir were killed in what India called an act of terror. Pakistan has denied involvement in the incident, but the accord has not been revived despite the two nuclear-armed neighbours agreeing a ceasefire last week following the worst fighting between them in decades.

After suspending India's participation in the treaty, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered officials to expedite planning and execution of projects on the Chenab, Jhelum and Indus rivers, three bodies of water in the Indus system that are designated primarily for Pakistan's use, six people told Reuters.

One of the key plans under discussion involves doubling to 120km the length of the Ranbir canal on the Chenab, which runs through India to Pakistan's agricultural powerhouse of Punjab, two of the people said. The canal was built in the 19th century, long before the treaty was signed.

India is permitted to draw a limited amount of water from the Chenab for irrigation, but an expanded canal - which experts said could take years to construct - would allow it to divert 150 cubic meters of water per second, up from about 40 cubic meters currently, the four people said, citing official discussions and documents they had seen.

Details of the Indian government's deliberations on expanding Ranbir have not previously been reported. The discussions started last month and continue even after the ceasefire, one of the people said.

The Indian ministries responsible for water and foreign affairs, as well as Modi's office, did not respond to Reuters' questions. Indian hydropower giant NHPC, which operates many projects in the Indus system, also did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Modi said in a fiery speech this week that "water and blood cannot flow together," though he didn't refer to the treaty. Water minister CR Paatil told a media event Friday that his ministry would "implement what Prime Minister Modi says" and "try to ensure that not a drop of water goes out."

The water and foreign ministries of Pakistan did not respond to requests for comment. Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar told lawmakers this week that the government had written to India arguing that suspending the treaty was unlawful and that Islamabad regarded it as remaining in force.

Islamabad said after India suspended the treaty in April that it considered "any attempt to stop or divert the flow of water belonging to Pakistan" to be an "act of war."

About 80% of Pakistani farms depend on the Indus system, as do nearly all hydropower projects serving the country of some 250 million.

Any efforts by Delhi to build dams, canals or other infrastructure that would withhold or divert significant amount of flow from the Indus system to India "would take years to realize," said water security expert David Michel of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

But Pakistan has had a preview of the kind of pressure it could face from India: Water at a key receiving point in Pakistan briefly fell by as much as 90% in early May after India started maintenance work on some Indus projects.

SUCCESS THREATENED

The Indus system runs through some of the world's most geopolitically tense areas, originating near Lake Mansarovar in Tibet and snaking through India's north and Pakistan's east and southeast, before emptying into the Arabian Sea.

The treaty is widely seen as one of the world's most successful water-sharing accords, having survived several major wars and longstanding tensions between India and Pakistan.

Islamabad has previously opposed many Indian projects in the Indus system, while Delhi said after the Kashmir attack that it had been trying to renegotiate the treaty since 2023 to account for population increases and its rising need for clean hydroenergy.

The treaty restricts India largely to setting up low-impact hydropower projects on the three rivers allocated to Pakistan. Delhi has freedom to utilize the waters of three other rivers - the Sutlej, Beas and Ravi tributaries - as it sees fit.

Alongside the plans to expand Ranbir canal, India is also considering projects that would likely reduce the flow of water into Pakistan from rivers allocated to that country, according to two government documents seen by Reuters and interviews with five people familiar with the matter.

One document, an undated note prepared by a government company for officials considering irrigation plans, suggests that water from the Indus, Chenab and Jhelum "potentially be distributed into rivers" in three northern Indian states.

One of the people said the document, the details of which haven't been previously reported, was created for discussions with power ministry officials after the April 22 attack.

Delhi has also created a list of hydropower projects in its Jammu and Kashmir territory that it hopes will expand capacity to 12,000 megawatts, up from the current 3,360 MW.

The list, which was created by the power ministry and seen by Reuters, was not dated. A person familiar with the document said it was created before the Kashmir incident but is actively being discussed by government officials.

The prospective projects also include dams that can store large volumes of water, in what would be a first for India in the Indus river system, according to two people familiar with the matter.

India has identified at least five possible storage projects, four of which are on tributaries of the Chenab and Jhelum, according to the power ministry document.

POLITICAL WRANGLING

The Himalayan region of Kashmir is claimed by both India and Pakistan, though each controls only parts of the area.

The region has been ravaged by an anti-India insurgency for decades, which Delhi has accused Islamabad of fuelling and funding. Pakistan denies the charges.

International relations expert Happymon Jacob at Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University said that India's new focus on the Indus Waters Treaty reflected an attempt to pressure Pakistan over Kashmir.

"With the latest conflict, Delhi may refuse to discuss Kashmir with Pakistan in any format," he said. "Delhi has not only progressively narrowed the scope of bilateral talks but has also curtailed the agenda, focusing only on specific issues like the IWT."

Pakistan has said that it is preparing legal action in several international forums, including the World Bank, which facilitated the treaty, as well as the Permanent Court of Arbitration or the International Court of Justice in the Hague.

"Water should not be weaponised," Pakistan's Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb told Reuters on Monday. "We don't even want to consider any scenario which ... does not take into account the reinstatement of this treaty."

Michel, the U.S.-based expert, said that concern over the treaty's suspension was not limited to Islamabad.

"As geopolitical competition across the region deepens, more than a few Indian observers fear that Delhi’s use of water against Islamabad risks licensing Beijing to adopt the same strategy against India," he said.

(Reporting by Sarita Chaganti Singh, Krishna N. Das and Aftab Ahmed in New Delhi and Charlotte Greenfield and Ariba Shahid in Islamabad; Editing by Katerina Ang)

(([email protected]; https://twitter.com/krishnadas56 ;))

Adds details; paragraph 2

By Aftab Ahmed, Sarita Chaganti Singh and Krishna N. Das

SRINAGAR, May 5 (Reuters) - India has begun work to boost reservoir holding capacity at two hydroelectric projects in the Himalayan region of Kashmir, sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, after fresh tension with Pakistan led it to suspend a water-sharing pact.

The work represents the first tangible step by India to operate outside agreements covered by the Indus Waters Treaty, unbroken since 1960 despite three wars and several other conflicts between the nuclear-armed rivals.

Last month, however, New Delhi suspended the pact that ensures supply to 80% of Pakistani farms after an attack in Kashmir killed 26, and it identified two of the three assailants as Pakistani.

Islamabad has threatened international legal action over the suspension and denied any role in the attack, warning, "Any attempt to stop or divert the flow of water belonging to Pakistan ... will be considered as an act of war".

A "reservoir flushing" process to remove sediment began on Thursday, carried out by India's biggest hydropower company, state-run NHPC Ltd NHPC.NS, and authorities in the federal territory of Jammu and Kashmir, the three sources said.

The work may not immediately threaten supply to Pakistan, which depends on rivers flowing through India for much of its irrigation and hydropower, but it could eventually be affected if other projects launch similar efforts.

There are more than half a dozen such projects in the region.

India did not inform Pakistan about the work at the Salal and Baglihar projects, which is being done for the first time since they were built in 1987 and 2008/09, respectively, as the treaty had blocked such work, the sources added.

They spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to talk to the media.

India's NHPC and the neighbouring governments did not reply to emails from Reuters to seek comment.

Since independence from British colonial rule in 1947, India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir, in addition to numerous short conflicts.

The flushing operation ran for three days from May 1, the sources said.

"This is the first time such an exercise has taken place and will help in more efficient power generation and prevent damage to turbines," one of the sources told Reuters.

"We were also asked to open the adjustable gates for cleaning, which we did from May 1," the source said, adding that the effort aimed to free dam operation from any restrictions.

People living on the banks of the Chenab river on the Indian side of Kashmir said they noticed water had been released from both Salal and Baglihar dams from Thursday to Saturday.

'FREE WILL'

The flushing of hydropower projects requires nearly emptying a reservoir to force out sediments whose build-up is a major cause of decline in output.

For example, two of the sources said, power delivered by the 690-MegaWatt Salal project was far below its capacity, because Pakistan had prevented such flushing, while silting also hit output at the 900-MW Baglihar project.

"Flushing is not a common thing because it leads to a lot of water wastage," said one of the sources. "Downstream countries are expected to be informed in case it leads to any inundation."

Building both projects had required extensive back and forth with Pakistan, which worries about losing out on its share of water.

Under the 1960 treaty, which split the Indus and its tributaries between the neighbours, India had also shared data such as hydrological flows at various spots on the rivers flowing through India and issued flood warnings.

India's water minister has vowed to "ensure no drop of the Indus river's water reaches Pakistan".

Government officials and experts on both sides say India cannot stop water flows immediately, however, as the treaty has allowed it only to build hydropower plants without significant storage dams on the three rivers allocated to Pakistan.

The suspension means India "can now pursue our projects at free will", said Kushvinder Vohra, a recently retired head of India's Central Water Commission who worked extensively on Indus disputes with Pakistan.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has sought to renegotiate the treaty in recent years and the archfoes have tried to settle some of their differences at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague.

These concerns related to the size of the water storage area at the region's Kishenganga and Ratle hydroelectric plants.

(Reporting by Aftab Ahmed in Srinagar and Sarita Chaganti Singh and Krishna N. Das in New Delhi; Additional reporting by Fayaz Bukhari in Srinagar and Ariba Shahid in Karachi; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

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MUMBAI, May 2 (Reuters) - India's NHPC NHPC.NS has accepted bids worth 19.45 billion rupees ($231.6 million) for separately transferable redeemable principal part (STRPP) bonds with six-to-15-year maturities, three merchant bankers said on Friday.

The state-run hydroelectric power company will pay an annual coupon of 6.86% and had invited coupon and commitment bids from bankers and investors earlier in the day, they said.

NHPC did not reply to a Reuters email seeking comment.

Here is the list of deals reported so far on May 2:

*Size includes base plus greenshoe for some issues

($1 = 83.9850 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia
Editing by Sonia Cheema)

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