India’s Assistance Projects in Afghanistan

India has been a major development and humanitarian partner for Afghanistan for over two decades. Its assistance has focused on large infrastructure works, community-level projects, health facilities, capacity building and emergency relief across all Afghan provinces.

Overview of India’s Developmental Footprint

• Cumulative assistance: India has committed over USD 3 billion in development and humanitarian aid since 2001.
• Project spread: More than 500 projects have been implemented across all 34 provinces of Afghanistan.
• High Impact Community Development Projects (HICDP): These decentralised projects address village-level needs such as primary schools, health centres and small irrigation canals.
• Broad focus areas: India’s assistance has traditionally covered infrastructure, humanitarian aid, capacity building, economic development and connectivity.

Completed Infrastructure Projects

• Afghan-India Friendship Dam (Salma Dam): Built on the Hari River in Chishti Sharif district of Herat province, it has a power generation capacity of 42 MW and irrigates around 75,000 hectares of land.
• Zaranj-Delaram Highway (Route 606): The 218-km road was constructed by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and connects Zaranj near the Iranian border to Delaram.
• Strategic connectivity: The highway links to Afghanistan’s Ring Road and provides access to the Chabahar Port route via Iran.
• Afghan Parliament Building: Built by India in Kabul at an estimated cost of USD 90 million, it was inaugurated in December 2015.
• Atal Bihari Vajpayee block: One section of the Parliament building is named after the former Indian Prime Minister.
• Power transmission project: The 220 kV Pul-e-Khumri to Kabul transmission line, along with the Chimtala substation, improved electricity supply to Kabul.

Health and Drinking Water Projects

• Lalandar (Shatoot) Dam: India and Afghanistan signed an MoU in February 2021 for this project on the Maidan River, a tributary of the Kabul River.
• Water supply target: The dam is designed to provide safe drinking water to two million residents of Kabul and irrigate 4,000 hectares of land.
• New healthcare initiatives: India committed to six projects covering oncology, trauma care, diagnostics, thalassemia treatment and maternity services.
• Kabul facilities: The projects include an oncology centre, a trauma centre, a diagnostic centre and a thalassemia centre in Kabul.
• Hospital and clinics: The package also includes a 30-bed hospital in Bagrami and five maternity clinics in Paktika, Khost and Paktia provinces.
• Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health (IGICH): India is upgrading the heating system at this paediatric hospital in Kabul and has supported it earlier as well.

Trade, Standards and Humanitarian Assistance

• Quality control laboratories: In May 2026, Afghanistan signed a five-year USD 46 million agreement with the Indian firm TRC to construct and modernize laboratories in Kabul and nine border trade points.
• Trade regulation: The project is aimed at improving export-import standards and quality control infrastructure.
• Wheat assistance: India has supplied 50,000 metric tonnes of wheat as part of its humanitarian relief.
• Medical aid: India has also delivered over 300 tonnes of medical supplies.
• Polio vaccines: Humanitarian deliveries included 100 million polio vaccine doses.
• Disaster relief: India has sent additional supplies for natural-disaster response and urgent humanitarian needs.

Institutional and Diplomatic Links

• Trade dialogue: In July 2026, discussions were held between the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment and India’s Ambassador to Afghanistan on trade, agricultural exports and business visas.
• Embassy upgrade: India upgraded its Kabul Technical Mission to a full-fledged embassy on October 21, 2025.
• Indian representative: Yatin Patel serves as India’s Ambassador to Afghanistan.
• Afghan mission in India: Mufti Noor Ahmad Noor took charge as the first Taliban-appointed Charge d’Affaires at the Afghan Embassy in New Delhi in mid-January 2026.

Key Prelims Takeaways

• India’s aid scale: Over USD 3 billion committed since 2001 for development and humanitarian support.
• Geographic reach: More than 500 projects implemented across all 34 provinces of Afghanistan.
• Salma Dam: Officially the Afghan-India Friendship Dam, located on the Hari River in Herat.
• Route 606: The 218-km Zaranj-Delaram highway was built by the BRO.
• Shatoot Dam: Planned on the Maidan River to supply drinking water to Kabul and support irrigation.
• TRC contract: A five-year USD 46 million agreement signed in May 2026 for quality control laboratories.
• Key health projects: Oncology, trauma, diagnostic and thalassemia centres, along with a 30-bed hospital and maternity clinics.