Taking a holistic, basin-wide approach to planning and developing hydro

Planning for hydropower development needs to evolve from a project-based approach to a more holistic one: an approach incorporating river basin planning and integrating potential engineering, economic, social and environmental issues across multiple projects and the entire river basin. Such a framework would help to optimize the benefits and minimize the costs. It would also bring stakeholders together to weigh opportunities and risks and to form a consensus for sustainable and equitable development. A study funded by the Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF) of the World Bank on two river basins in India’s Himalayan region outlines steps for moving toward such a holistic framework.