Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated and dedicated development projects worth about Rs 3,350 crore in Ladakh on 15 October 2026, by video conference, according to Kashmir Reader, ANI and Swarajya. The five projects are an airport terminal, a strategic road, a hydropower project with a transmission line, a conservation park and a programme of water bodies.
The new passenger terminal at Kushok Bakula Rimpochee Airport in Leh cost Rs 640 crore, according to Swarajya. It covers 23,800 square metres on three levels and is designed to handle 35 lakh passengers a year. It uses geothermal energy to improve energy efficiency, and it raises the airport’s daily flight capacity from 18 to 54 flights, according to the report. The terminal alone is about 19 per cent of the total package, a share that IndiaX24 has calculated from Rs 640 crore and Rs 3,350 crore.
The 298 km Nimmu-Padum-Darcha road was built by the Border Roads Organisation. It links Nimmu, near Leh, with Darcha in Himachal Pradesh through the Zanskar Valley, and it gives Ladakh an alternative route that supplements the Srinagar-Leh and Manali-Leh highways, according to the reports. The reports reviewed do not give the cost of the road or the expected travel time.
The energy projects are the 9 MW Hanu small hydroelectric project and a 66 kV transmission line from Dah and Hanu to Khaltsi, according to Swarajya. The reports reviewed do not give the cost of these projects or the number of homes they will supply.
India’s first Petroglyph Conservation Park at Sindhu Ghat is intended to preserve ancient rock carvings and promote heritage tourism, according to the same report. Petroglyphs are images carved into rock, a general definition that the reports do not give. The fifth project is Project Amrit Him Sarovar, which develops 40 water bodies across 40 villages to address seasonal water shortages in the region.
The Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh and senior officials took part from Leh, and ceremonies were held in all seven districts, according to Swarajya. The reports reviewed do not carry the prime minister’s speech, so his statements are not reported here.
Ladakh became a Union Territory in 2019, which is general background. The reports reviewed for this article do not describe local demands or reactions to the projects, so IndiaX24 does not comment on them.
A word about the numbers: the reports describe the package as five projects worth about Rs 3,350 crore, and the airport terminal is the only project whose cost is given. The remaining Rs 2,710 crore is divided among the other four projects in proportions that the reports do not give, a subtraction by IndiaX24 from the total and the terminal’s cost.
The airport capacity is a key figure. Raising the number of daily flights from 18 to 54 is a threefold increase, which could ease pressure on a route that is a main way for tourists and supplies to reach Ladakh. The reports reviewed do not say how many flights the airport has at present or which airlines will use the new capacity.
IndiaX24 will report on the opening of the terminal to flights when the date is announced.
Image: Leh airport in Ladakh (file photo of the existing airport). Photo by Vinodtiwari2608, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.