With freshly laid roads, bridges, tunnels, airfields, and helipads, India is gearing up to give an extra push to its strategically crucial infrastructure projects along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) to counter China’s growing footprints in the region.
On Tuesday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated 90 infrastructure projects of the Border Roads Organisation, completed at a cost of `2,941 crore, in the Samba district of Jammu province.
The BRO projects include 22 roads, 63 bridges, one tunnel, two airstrips, and two helipads across 10 border States and Union Territories of northern and northeastern regions, constructed under challenging weather conditions, at most inhospitable terrain locations.
The Defence Minister also laid the e-foundation of Nyoma airfield in eastern Ladakh which will be developed at a cost of `218 crore for wide-ranging strategic air assets, a BRO spokesperson said.
The construction of this airfield will tremendously boost the air infrastructure in Ladakh and augment the IAF capability along the northern borders.
He said the surge in road and bridge construction by the BRO in the last three years has led to the completion of several critical and strategic projects which has bolstered the defence preparedness.
The BRO has also connected the farthest and most remote villages of the country like Huri in Arunachal Pradesh to the mainland. This connectivity has triggered reverse migration along the border villages.
In the last two years, the BRO has dedicated a record 205 infrastructure projects to the nation at a cost of `5,100 crore.
Last year, 103 BRO infrastructure projects were completed at a cost of `2,897 crore while in 2021, 102 BRO infrastructure projects were dedicated to the nation at a cost of `2,229 crore.
Work on these projects was completed expeditiously to facilitate the speedy induction of troops, heavy equipment, and mechanised vehicles to forward areas. These projects will also boost the socio-economic development of the region.
Of the 89 projects inaugurated virtually, 36 are in Arunachal Pradesh, 25 in Ladakh, 11 are in Jammu & Kashmir, five in Mizoram, three in Himachal Pradesh, two each in Sikkim, Uttarakhand and West Bengal and one each in Nagaland, Rajasthan and Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the spokesman of the BRO said in a statement.
During his day-long visit, Rajnath Singh also inaugurated the state-of-the-art 422.9 meter Devak bridge on the Bishnah-Kaulpur-Phulpur Road in the Samba district besides 89 other projects.
The BRO completed the critically strategic projects in record time and several of them were constructed in a single working season using state-of-the-art technology, the spokesperson said.
He said the 500-metre Nechiphu Tunnel on Balipara-Charduar-Tawang Road in Arunachal Pradesh, along with the under-construction Sela Tunnel, will provide all-weather connectivity to the strategic Tawang region and will be beneficial to both the armed forces deployed in the region and the tourists visiting pristine Tawang. Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu joined the ceremony virtually.
Reconstructed and revamped Bagdogra and Barrackpore Airfields in West Bengal will not only improve the defensive and offensive architecture of the Indian Air Force along the borders but will also facilitate commercial flight operations in the region, the spokesperson said.
During his day-long visit, Singh also visited the venue of the North Tech Symposium 2023 at the IIT Jammu campus.
Addressing the gathering, Singh called upon the domestic defence manufacturers to invest more in Research & Development (R&D) for India to keep up pace with the continuously-evolving world.
Singh was of the view that although R&D is a risky venture as it requires out-of-the-box thinking and sometimes does not give the desired results, it still remains one of the basic elements for the development of any country. Hence, capital investment in R&D becomes a necessity, he emphasised. “India is passing through a transitional phase. There is nothing wrong in acquiring a technology through imitation or transfer, but we cannot become a developed nation on these grounds alone. We need to file our own patents, for which a lot of investment in R&D is needed. Capital investment in R&D may reduce today’s profits, but it will prove to be beneficial to the industry and the country in the long term,” the Defence Minister said.
Singh underlined the fact that to obtain the services of top talents, there is a need to create a good work culture & positive environment and adopt new HR standards. “We cannot run our workforce in the 21st century on the basis of the HR policy of the 19th century. Today, the quality of work is more important than the number of hours worked. The focus should be on intellect and innovation. A work culture needs to be developed where there is a concept of senior and junior; not superior and inferior. There is a need to involve women in R&D with more effectiveness,” he said.
On the occasion, the Raksha Mantri also gave away SIDM Champion Awards 2023 to a number of industry partners, including Bharat Forge Limited, TATA Advanced Systems Limited, Larsen & Toubro Limited and IdeaForge Technology Limited.
During the symposium, Rajnath Singh witnessed a plethora of indigenous weapons/equipment. He lauded the efforts of all stakeholders including the Northern Command, IIT Jammu, SIDM & Industry Partners, in their joint efforts to push the domestic defence industry.
Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology and Minister of State in Prime Minister’s Office Dr Jitendra Singh, Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and Chairman DRDO Dr Samir V Kamat, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Command Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi and SIDM President SP Shukla were among those present on the occasion.