Kalpasar Project

About Kalpasar Project:

• The Kalpasar Project, or the Gulf of Khambhat Development Project, is a proposed multipurpose water infrastructure project in Gujarat.
• It aims to cater to the irrigation, drinking water, transport, and energy demands of Gujarat’s Saurashtra region.
• The project proposes a 64-km-long dam across the Gulf of Khambhat to create a reservoir spanning around 2,000 sq.km., one of the world’s largest coastal freshwater reservoirs.
  • The aim is to trap freshwater flowing from several rivers into the gulf and create a giant reservoir.
  • The proposed reservoir will have a gross storage capacity of 13,000 million cubic metres (MCM), larger than the Sardar Sarovar dam’s 9,460 MCM.
  • The reservoir will receive water from four major rivers – Sabarmati, Mahi, Dhadhar, and Narmada.
• The project is expected to significantly enhance freshwater availability and help address water scarcity in the Saurashtra region.
• It is expected to irrigate nearly 10 lakh hectares across nine districts of Saurashtra.
• Besides water storage, the project proposes a highway-cum-rail corridor over the dam.
  • The corridor is expected to reduce the travel distance between Bhavnagar and Surat by around 179 kilometres, bringing it down from about 356 km to approximately 177 km via the proposed dyke corridor.
• The project also envisages the development of around 2,470 MW of hybrid renewable energy capacity on reclaimed land that remains submerged during high tide.
  • The renewable energy generated is proposed to be used, among other purposes, for pumping freshwater to meet irrigation requirements in the coastal regions of Saurashtra.
• The Netherlands is providing technical expertise and engineering cooperation for the Kalpasar Project.