Budget 2024: Border infra gets boost as China builds bunkers, bridge at LAC

Govt committed to improving border infra through higher budgetary allocation to agencies executing strategically-significant projects, says Ministry of Defence

Budget 2024's defence allocation will focus on bolstering the country's strategic border infrastructure amid the ongoing tensions with China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), with the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) being allocated Rs 6,500 crore under the capital head, up 30 per cent from the Budget Estimates (BE) for FY24.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has been allocated about Rs 6.22 trillion (approximately $75 billion), the highest among ministries, in the regular Union Budget of financial year 2024-2025 (FY25) presented on Tuesday. The FY25 defence allocation is down 0.31 per cent from the Revised Estimates for FY24, but 4.79 per cent higher than the FY24 BE. The total allocation for the MoD stands at 1.9 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) and amounts to approximately 13 per cent of the overall Budgetary Estimate.

 

Stating that the government is firm in its commitment to improving border infrastructure through higher allocation to agencies involved in executing strategically-significant projects and by providing last-mile connectivity in border areas, an official release by the MoD on Tuesday said, "The budgetary allocation to BRO under capital for BE 2024-25 has been made as Rs 6,500 crore, which is 30 per cent higher than the allocation for FY24, and 160 per cent higher over the allocation of FY22."

According to the MoD, the financial provision made during the Budget this year will promote both strategic infrastructure and socio-economic development in the country's border areas. "Projects such as development of Nyoma Airfield in Ladakh at an altitude of 13,700 feet, permanent bridge connectivity to southernmost panchayat of India in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, 4.1-kilometres (km) strategically-important Shinku La tunnel in Himachal Pradesh, Nechiphu tunnel in Arunachal Pradesh, and many other projects will be funded out of this allocation," said the MoD.

During FY24, the BRO completed 125 infrastructure projects, including the Sela tunnel in Arunachal Pradesh, worth Rs 3,600 crore.

The continuing focus on border infrastructure comes at a time when China is reportedly bolstering its already considerable facilities along the LAC.

Just a day before the Budget was presented, based on satellite images, ThePrint reported that China had made the People's Liberation Army's (PLA's) troop movement and logistics easier by completing the construction of a bridge in territory held by it and overlooking the Pangong Tso lake in Eastern Ladakh.

The bridge, built over the narrowest part of the lake and connecting its north and south bank, will reportedly be ready for use shortly.

According to the report, the bridge will reduce the time needed by the PLA to launch a quick military operation and help Chinese troops and even tanks to access areas on the lake's southern banks, including Rezang La, where Indian forces had outmaneuvered the Chinese in 2020.

According to a separate report from earlier in July, another batch of satellite images showed that the PLA had constructed underground bunkers for storing weapons and fuel and hardened shelters for protecting armoured vehicles at a key base in the area around the Pangong Lake. According to a former Indian Army commander cited by the report, India does not have such underground shelters on its side at present.

At the time of reporting, Indian officials had not confirmed the development.

The PLA base at Sirjap, located on the northern shore of the Pangong Lake, has been reportedly built in an area claimed by India and is located about 5 km from the LAC. Built during 2021-22, the PLA base serves as the headquarters for Chinese troops deployed around the lake. Till the start of the standoff at the LAC in May 2020, there was almost no human habitation in the region.

The PLA base is reportedly located a little over 120 km southeast of the Galwan Valley, which was the site of the deadly June 2020 skirmish that resulted in the death of 20 Indian soldiers and at least four Chinese troops.