The Sahyadri Is Not Expendable: An Environmental Economics Assessment of the Saidongar Pumped Storage Project, Karjat, Maharashtra

This working paper examines the Saidongar-1 pumped storage project (3,000 MW, Torrent Power) in Karjat, Raigad district, Maharashtra, which requires the diversion of about 233 hectares of forest land in the northern Western Ghats. It combines an essay, a verified evidence dossier and an economic analysis. Using an externality framework, it sets out the negative externalities of forest loss (biodiversity, water regulation, soil, carbon and the livelihoods of local tribal communities) and the positive externalities of the standing forest, and compares them with the project's claimed climate benefits. The developer's carbon claim is re-estimated under alternative charging scenarios: avoided emissions fall from about 5.85 Mt CO2 in the implied case to about 1.9 Mt if half of charging power comes from solar, and the project could add around 0.5 Mt CO2 if charged from the current grid mix. Benefit-transfer estimates value the forest's ecosystem services at roughly ₹0.4 to ₹10.5 crore per year. The paper argues that the decision process lacked transparency, a monsoon-season biodiversity baseline and meaningful public participation, and it proposes twelve policy demands and twenty-four open research questions on valuation, carbon accounting, displacement and governance.