New Delhi, February 15
In a major push to counter Chinese manoeuvres on the border, the government today sanctioned a proposal to hire 9,400 personnel to raise seven new battalions for the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), a force that guards the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
The Cabinet also approved a new operational base for the ITBP and the construction of the 4.1-km Shinkun La tunnel on the Nimu-Padam-Darcha road to provide all-weather connectivity to the frontier areas of Ladakh. Briefing the media, Union Minister Anurag Thakur said the decision on the new battalions was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), chaired by the PM.
The ITBP, having a strength of 90,000 personnel, was raised in the aftermath of the 1962 Chinese aggression and it is tasked with guarding the 3,488-km-long LAC. The force is working along with the Army even as the Indian and Chinese militaries have been engaged in a standoff in Ladakh since 2020.
The minister said the new sanctioned strength would be utilised for manning 47 new border posts and a dozen ‘staging camps’ or bases to be created along the frontier, largely in Arunachal Pradesh, which were sanctioned in 2020. Thakur said the battalions and the headquarters were expected to be put in place by 2025-26.
The minister said Rs 1,808.15 crore was estimated to be spent for land acquisition, creation of office and residential buildings, as non-recurring expenditure and a recurring annual expenditure of Rs 963.68 crore would be done under the salaries and rations head for the fresh manpower.
A senior official said 47 new border posts would lead to a 26% increase in the strength of these bases while 9,400 more personnel would enhance the strength by 10%. The force has 176 border posts at the LAC currently.
Thakur said Shinkun La tunnel would be completed by December 2025 at a cost of Rs 1,681 crore.