On July 20, 2025, Chinese Premier Li Qiang presided over a groundbreaking ceremony marking the beginning of construction on the Motuo Hydropower Station—poised to become the largest hydropower dam in the world—along the Yarlung Tsangpo River in Tibet. The project, located in a remote region of the Tibetan Plateau, is estimated to cost 1.2 trillion yuan ($167 billion) and is designed to eventually generate three times the energy produced by China’s current largest dam, the Three Gorges Dam.
The Yarlung Tsangpo River, known as the Brahmaputra once it crosses into India, and later the Jamuna in Bangladesh, plays a vital ecological and economic role for millions of people downstream. Critics from India and Bangladesh have voiced serious concerns over the potential environmental, geopolitical, and humanitarian impacts of the dam, including the risk of water scarcity, sudden flooding, and regional instability.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs and officials in the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh have publicly opposed the project, citing fears that China may eventually manipulate water flow—either deliberately or accidentally—causing the Siang and Brahmaputra rivers to dry up or flood. Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu warned that the dam posed an “existential threat” to local tribal communities, particularly the Adi people, if China were to release water rapidly. The Indian government has announced its own plans to construct a buffer dam on the Siang River to mitigate potential flood risk.
Bangladesh also expressed concern earlier in 2025, sending an official request to Beijing for more transparency and details about the project’s scope and environmental implications.
Chinese authorities assert that the project will prioritize ecological protection, bolster Tibet’s local economy, and contribute to national clean energy goals. The construction involves tunnel boring through the Namcha Barwa mountain, redirecting portions of the river to build five cascading power stations. According to Chinese state media, most of the electricity produced will be transmitted eastward to power cities in more industrialized provinces, as part of the “xidiandongsong” policy—“sending western electricity east.”
Environmental and human rights groups, however, question both the ecological sustainability and the socio-political fairness of the project. They cite risks of biodiversity loss, increased seismic vulnerability due to the dam’s location near fault lines, and the displacement of local Tibetan communities. Past resistance to similar projects has led to arrests and beatings of Tibetan protestors, raising concerns over the suppression of local dissent.
While Beijing frames the dam as a symbol of national development and green energy, critics argue that it reflects a broader assertion of state control over Tibet and strategic leverage over neighboring countries through transboundary water infrastructure.
Key Points
- Largest dam ever, projected to outproduce the Three Gorges Dam
- Located on the Yarlung Tsangpo River in Tibet
- Cost: $167 billion; primary electricity export destination is eastern China
- India and Bangladesh concerned about flooding, water shortages, and lack of consultation
- Environmental and seismic risks cited by scientists and activists
- Tibetans impacted, with prior resistance resulting in mass arrests
Original Source:
BBC News – China begins building world’s largest dam in Tibet
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On July 20, 2025, Chinese Premier Li Qiang presided over a groundbreaking ceremony marking the beginning of construction on the Motuo Hydropower Station—poised to become the largest hydropower dam in the world—along the Yarlung Tsangpo River in Tibet. The project, located in a remote region of the Tibetan Plateau, is estimated to cost 1.2 trillion