The tunnel is expected to reduce the average time taken to cross the Himalayan Zojila pass along the strategic Srinagar-Leh highway from three hours to 20 minutes
The completion of the 13-km Zojila tunnel, Asia’s longest previously scheduled to be ready by September 2026 for all-weather connectivity between Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh’s Leh, has been delayed by over two years. Union transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday told Lok Sabha that the tunnel will now be completed by February 2028.
The tunnel is expected to reduce the average time taken to cross Zojila, the 5,008 metre treacherous Himalayan pass along the strategic Srinagar-Leh highway, from three hours to 20 minutes. It aims to ease civilian traffic flow and enhance logistics support for armed forces deployed in the Ladakh sector, particularly against the backdrop of the 2020 standoff with China.
The standoff was triggered after a clash in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley left 20 Indian soldiers and at least four Chinese troops dead and plunged India-China ties to the lowest point in nearly six decades.
Gadkari said ₹3934.42 crore has so far been spent on the ₹6809 crore project. “The project has been delayed due to multiple factors, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, a terrorist attack at the [nearby] Sonamarg Tunnel Project [in 2024], and extreme adverse weather conditions,” Gadkari said in a reply to a question from the National Conference lawmaker Mian Altaf Ahmed Larvi (Jammu and Kashmir).
Gadkari said that 64% of the project is complete and that 1,141 people are employed for it. He added that 77% of the workforce is from Jammu and Kashmir, including 28% from Larvi’s native Ganderbal district.
In January, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Z-Morh tunnel at Sonamarg, another crucial part of the all-weather connectivity between Srinagar and Leh. Ladakh does not have all-weather road connectivity with other parts of India. Both the Srinagar-Leh and the Manali-Leh roads face weather-related closures for five months annually.
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