Adani Power Makes Big Bhutan Move With 770 MW Hydropower Pact

Adani Power Ltd and Bhutan’s state-owned Druk Green Power Corp. Ltd, or DGPC, have signed a shareholders’ agreement to develop the 770 MW Chamkharchhu-I Hydroelectric Project in Bhutan, extending a cross-border clean-energy partnership that already includes the 570 MW Wangchhu project.

The agreement, signed on October 5, 2026, provides for the incorporation of a public project company in Bhutan. DGPC will hold a 51 per cent stake and Adani Power the remaining 49 per cent. Each partner will nominate three directors to the company’s board.

The peaking run-of-river project will be built on the Chamkarchhu River in Zhemgang District in central Bhutan under a Build, Own, Operate and Transfer model. It will carry a 30-year concession period beginning from the commercial operation date. Construction is expected to start in the first half of 2027, with commissioning targeted six years after groundbreaking.

The initial equity capitalisation will involve the issue of 10 million shares at BTN100 each. Adani Power will subscribe to 4.9 million shares and DGPC to 5.1 million shares, translating into an initial equity contribution of BTN490 million and BTN510 million, respectively. The partners have also agreed to make further capital contributions in the same ownership proportion as required. The announcement did not disclose the project’s overall investment cost, financing plan or power-purchase arrangements.

For Adani Power, the 770 MW project is a relatively small addition compared with its 18,330 MW operating thermal portfolio reported in its August 2026 investor presentation. Yet the project’s capacity is equivalent to about 4.2 per cent of that operating base and gives the company a larger foothold in hydroelectric generation, an area outside its predominantly coal-based fleet.

The Chamkharchhu-I project is the second major hydroelectric collaboration between the two entities after the September 2025 agreement for the 570 MW Wangchhu Hydroelectric Project. Both projects are part of the wider memorandum of understanding signed by the Adani Group and DGPC in May 2025 for the development of up to 5,000 MW of hydropower capacity in Bhutan.

Adani Power Managing Director Anil Sardana said the project could help Bhutan meet peak electricity demand during winter while enabling exports of surplus green power to India during summer. DGPC Managing Director Dasho Chhewang Rinzin said the development would strengthen Bhutan’s energy security and the longer-standing energy relationship between Bhutan and India.

The arrangement comes as Adani Power continues to pursue a large thermal expansion programme in India. Management has outlined a locked-in capacity pipeline of 23,720 MW and has said it intends to increase capacity significantly through FY2031-32. Hydro projects, however, have a distinctly longer development and execution cycle, with the Chamkharchhu-I project still subject to construction delivery, financing and finalisation of commercial arrangements.

Adani Power’s core operations have shown stronger momentum in the latest reported quarter. For the quarter ended June 2026, net sales rose 34 per cent year-on-year to Rs 18,901.89 crore, while profit after Tax increased 44 per cent to Rs 4,748.91 crore. The company has also been progressively raising the proportion of its thermal capacity tied to medium- and long-term power purchase agreements, seeking to reduce exposure to merchant-market volatility.

As of 10:20 AM on October 6, 2026, Adani Power shares were trading at Rs 203.45, up 3.3 per cent from the previous close of Rs 196.95. The stock has gained 15.75 per cent over the past year, compared with a 3.22 per cent decline in the BSE 500, an outperformance of nearly 19 percentage points.

Disclaimer: The article is for informational purposes only and not investment advice.