China has approved the construction of the world’s largest dam, stated to be the planet’s biggest infrastructure project, on the Brahmaputra in Tibet, close to the Indian border, raising concerns in riparian states India and Bangladesh.
The project is set to come up in the lower reaches of Yarlung Zangbo river, the Tibetan name for Brahmaputra, according to an official statement quoted by state-run Xinhua news agency on Wednesday (Dec 25). The total investment could exceed one trillion yuan ($137 billion), which would dwarf any other single infrastructure project on the planet, including China’s own Three Gorges Dam, regarded as the largest in the world, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported Thursday.
While there was no official reaction from India, govt sources said India carefully monitors all developments on the Brahmaputra and that China has in the past conveyed to India that it undertakes only run-of-the-river projects on the river.