(Wednesday, September 16, 2026: Wangduechhoeling Palace Museum & Cultural Centre, Choekhor, Bumthang)
The Foundation Stone for the 500kW Lunana Small Hydro Project was unveiled by H.E. Lyonpo D.N. Dhungyel, Hon’ble Minster for Foreign Affairs and External Trade (MFAET) of the Royal Government of Bhutan (RGoB) and H.E. Dr. S. Jaishankar, Hon’ble Minister for the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) of the Government of India (GoI) on September 16, 2026 from the sprawling lawns of the historic Wangduechhoeling Palace in Chhoekhor, Bumthang. The Secretary, Ministry of Energy & Natural Resources, the Ambassador of India to Bhutan and Bhutan to India, Dasho Dzongdag, DG-Department of Bilateral Affairs, MFAET and DG-DMDF, MoF, and senior Dzongkhag & Museum officials among others were present during the unveiling event. A short video about the project was also screened before the main event.
The Project with an installed capacity of 500 kW and annual design energy of 4.38 GWh is one of the flagship projects under the RGoB’s 13th FYP and is first of its kind located in a high-altitude exceeding 4000m amsl. It has been designed as a pure run-of-the-river project that will generate firm 500kW capacity throughout the year. The project started its construction at site from March 2026 with the award of Civil & Hydro Mechanical works to M/s Chimi RD Construction Pvt. Ltd. and the E&M works were awarded recently to M/s Bhutan Engineering Power Company Pvt. Ltd. & M/s Global Hydro Energy India Pvt. Ltd. consortium. The project is expected to largely benefit about more than 215 households in 11 villages of the Lunana Gewog under Gasa Dzongkhag with reliable, clean and sustainable energy. The project is funded through the GoI’s Project Tied Assistance (PTA) at the cost of about Nu. 887 million and is expected to be completed by end of 2027. The project is implemented by Department of Energy, MoENR and executed through Druk Hydro Energy Ltd. of DGPC.
