Centre has initiated development projects worth ₹50,000 crore in Ladakh: Amit Shah.

The centre has initiated development projects worth ₹50,000 crore in the Union Territory of Ladakh, according to Home Minister Amit Shah.

Speaking at an event to mark the launch of special winter-grade diesel for Ladakh, Shah said that the Government of India has initiated a number of development projects for Ladakh in power, including solar energy, education and tourism, at an estimated investment of ₹50,000 crore.

He said that keeping in view the special development requirement of the region, the Centre has made a provision that the budget allocation for Ladakh will remain non-lapsable, so as to enable the local administration to make full use of these funds as per their development needs.

Shah was presiding over a function to launch a special winter-grade diesel, developed by Indian Oil

Corporation (IndianOil), for the high-altitude regions of Ladakh through a video link. Motorists in high-altitude sectors such as Ladakh, Kargil, Kaza and Keylong face the problem of fuel freezing when winter temperatures drop to as low as -30 degrees Celsius.

IndianOil has come up with an innovative solution to this problem by introducing a special winter-grade diesel with a low pour-point of -33 degrees Celsius, which does not freeze even in extreme winter conditions, an official statement said.

HBL