Modi inaugurates five Ladakh projects worth about Rs 3,350 crore

Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually inaugurated five projects worth about Rs 3,350 crore in Ladakh, India, on October 15, 2026. The projects include a new passenger terminal at Leh airport and a road through Zanskar Valley, alongside power, heritage and water works intended to improve services and access in the region.

Leh airport terminal and the road through Zanskar

The new terminal at Kushok Bakula Rimpochee Airport in Leh covers about 23,800 square metres and is designed to handle 3.5 million passengers a year, according to the reports. The Times of India and India TV put its construction cost at Rs 640 crore; an ANI report carried by Asianet News Central quotes Modi describing it as approximately Rs 650 crore.

Modi also dedicated the 298-kilometre Nimmu-Padum-Darcha Road. It connects Nimmu in Leh with Darcha in Himachal Pradesh through Zanskar Valley, the reports say. They describe it as an alternative route to Ladakh with potential benefits for residents’ access and strategic logistics; those benefits are the stated purpose of the road, rather than measured results reported in the coverage.

Power, petroglyphs and village water bodies

The power works comprise the 9 MW Hanu Small Hydroelectric Project and a 66 kV double-circuit Dah-Hanu-Khaltsi transmission line. The reports describe the works as intended to strengthen electricity supply and network reliability while supporting the use of Ladakh’s hydropower resources. Modi said the projects would improve electricity facilities in some areas, alongside making travel easier.

The heritage project is a Petroglyph Conservation Park at Sindhu Ghat in Leh, described by the reports as India’s first. It is intended to protect prehistoric rock carvings. The fifth project consists of 40 water bodies developed across 40 villages under Project Him Sarovar. Modi said the water works would increase availability in some areas and that the park would strengthen preservation of ancient heritage.

Separately, India TV reported that Modi said work on the Zojila Tunnel was progressing fast. That was his account of another connectivity project, not one of the five projects inaugurated on October 15.