India to bolster Indo-Tibetan Border Police with 7 new batallions

New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday cleared a proposal to raise seven new battalions of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), which guards the strategic Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China.

With the aim of providing all weather connectivity between Ladakh and the rest of the country, it also gave the nod for the construction of a 4-km-long Shinkun La tunnel along with an approach road.

Both the decisions were taken by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), which met earlier in the day.

The undemarcated 3,800-km frontier between the countries stayed largely peaceful since a war in 1962, before the clashes nearly three years ago sent relations nosediving.

The ITBP primarily guards the India-China border, stretching from the Karakoram Pass in Ladakh in India’s north to Jachep La in Arunachal Pradesh state in the east.

The new battalions, approved in a cabinet meeting and to come up by 2025/26, will cover 47 new border outposts and 12 staging camps of the ITBP, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur told a news conference.

Thakur informed media persons that as per the proposal, a sector headquarters would also be set up, for which a fresh strength of 9,400 posts would be created. The sector headquarter would be set up by 2025-26 and will entail a recurring expense of Rs 18 billion, while for meeting the ration and food requirements of the troops, a recurring expenditure of Rs 9.63 billion would be required.

In 2020, the CCS had sanctioned 47 new border outposts along with setting up of 12 staging camps. These are currently being set up, Thakur said, informing that for manning these outposts and staging camps, it was decided by the CCS on Wednesday, to raise seven new battalions.

Apart from this, the Shinkun La tunnel along with an approach road would be constructed.

The CCS approved this proposal and the tunnel is expected to be completed by December 2025, Thakur told reporters. It will entail a cost of Rs 1.681 trillion and its construction will lead to Ladakh’s connectivity with Zanskar valley through an all weather road.

This will lead to investments in health, tourism and education sectors and will also help in improving supply chain during winters and enable smoother troops movement, the minister said.