Centre Clears Rs 106 Bn J&K Road, Tunnel Push

26 Jun 2025 CW Team

The Union Government has approved nineteen road and tunnel schemes worth about Rs 106.4 billion for Jammu and Kashmir, promising faster journeys and reliable, year-round access to several frontier districts along the Line of Control. Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari gave the green light to the package, which covers 296 kilometres of new or upgraded corridors.

Headline project is the Rs 38.3 billion Peer-Ki-Gali tunnel, an alternative all-weather route between the Kashmir Valley and the rest of India. The Rs 33.3 billion Sadhana tunnel will secure round-the-year travel to Karnah near the LoC. Lieutenant-Governor Manoj Sinha said the projects will boost troop mobility, stimulate tourism and spur economic growth.

Other sanctioned works include the Zaznar-Shopian section (Rs 8.5 billion), a four-lane fly-over from Lal Chowk to Parimpora (Rs 7.0 billion), the Trehgam-Chamkote link (Rs 9.7 billion), a four-lane Magam fly-over on the Narbal–Gulmarg road (Rs 4.5 billion), the Qazigund bypass (Rs 950 million) and a two-lane bridge over the Rambiara at Shopian (Rs 710 million).

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah hailed the announcement as “a major achievement” for his administration, crediting the Centre for backing strategic schemes such as the Mughal Road and Tangdhar tunnels. The Awami Ittehad Party also welcomed the long-awaited Sadhana tunnel, noting that the initiative followed MP Engineer Rashid’s winter appeal to Mr Gadkari.

Infrastructure Urban

11 Mar 2026

India Expands Semiconductor Training To 500 Institutions

Under the Chips to Startups programme of the India Semiconductor Mission, the Union minister responsible for Railways, Information and Broadcasting, and Electronics and IT reported notable progress in talent development. He indicated that over the past four years substantial steps have been taken towards a 10-year target of training 85,000 engineers in semiconductor design. World-class EDA tools have been deployed in 315 academic institutions across the country to provide students with practical exposure to chip design. These EDA tools are supported by leading global firms and are accessible t..

Delhi Institutions Support India Semiconductor Mission

The Government of India has prioritised talent development through training, upskilling and workforce development under the Chips to Startups initiative of the India Semiconductor Mission, with officials noting progress in four years towards a 10-year target of training 85,000 engineers in semiconductor design. Electronic design automation tools provided by Synopsys, Cadence, Siemens, Renesas, Ansys and AMD have been deployed in 315 academic institutions, enabling students to gain practical chip design experience. Chips have been fabricated and tested at the Semiconductor Laboratory, Mohali, a..

NHA Announces Winners Of NHCX Hackathon At IIT Hyderabad

The National Health Authority (NHA) has concluded the NHCX Hackathon under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) to stimulate innovation around the National Health Claims Exchange (NHCX). The winning teams presented their solutions at the NHCX Innovation Meet held at IIT Hyderabad during a two-day event in March 2026 that also served as the hackathon grand finale. The hackathon itself ran from 22 to 28 February 2026 and aimed to accelerate paperless, transparent claims processing across India. The event was organised with a range of ecosystem partners, including the Insurance Regulatory a..