PM Modi Inaugurates Rs 3,350 Crore Projects in Ladakh Including Leh Airport Terminal

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated and dedicated five development projects worth approximately Rs 3,350 crore in Ladakh on Thursday through video conferencing. The works cover airport capacity, an alternative strategic road, hydropower, heritage conservation, and village water security.

The largest single item is the new passenger terminal at Kushok Bakula Rimpochee Airport in Leh, built at a cost of Rs 640 crore. The terminal covers 23,800 square metres and is designed to handle 3.5 million passengers annually. It includes geothermal floor heating suited to the high-altitude climate. The existing terminal has faced capacity constraints during the short tourist and military logistics seasons.

Modi also dedicated the 298-kilometre Nimmu-Padum-Darcha Road constructed by the Border Roads Organisation. The alignment links Nimmu in Leh district with Darcha in Himachal Pradesh through the Zanskar Valley, creating a third overland route into Ladakh alongside the Srinagar-Leh and Manali-Leh highways. Officials said the road improves logistical support for the armed forces and gives residents of Zanskar better year-round access to medical care, education, and markets.

In the energy sector the Prime Minister inaugurated the 9 MW Hanu Small Hydroelectric Project and the associated 66 kV double-circuit Dah-Hanu-Khaltsi transmission line. The projects are intended to increase local generation, improve power evacuation, and raise the reliability of the regional grid in a territory that currently relies heavily on diesel generation and seasonal hydropower.

India’s first Petroglyph Conservation Park at Sindhu Ghat in Leh was also inaugurated. The park is designed to protect prehistoric rock carvings that document early human activity in the region. Separately, 40 water bodies across 40 villages were dedicated under Project Amrit Him Sarovar to improve local water storage.

Modi addressed the gathering virtually at around 12:30 p.m. and described the projects as another chapter in Ladakh’s infrastructure development. Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh issued a statement thanking the central government and calling the package the start of a new phase of connectivity and basic services. The works follow earlier investments in border roads and airfields in the Union Territory after the 2020 standoff with China along the Line of Actual Control.

No immediate data on employment or tourism impact were released with the inauguration. The Leh terminal’s higher capacity is expected to reduce congestion during peak months, while the Nimmu-Padum-Darcha alignment shortens some military and civilian supply routes that previously depended on the two existing highways, both of which are vulnerable to landslides and seasonal closures.