Govt sanctions Rs 14.9 bn to Army to fortify its bases in J&K, other areas

This comes amid heightened hostilities between Indian, Pakistani armies along Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir

The Defence Ministry has sanctioned Rs 14.87 billion (Rs 1,487 crore) to the Army to fortify its bases in Jammu and Kashmir, Northeast and several other places to plug their security gaps and protect them from any terror attacks, official sources said today.

Clearing the project, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has set a deadline of 10 months for the Army to carry it out. The Army headquarters has been told to monitor implementation of the project, they said.

The sanction to the project comes amid heightened hostilities between Indian and Pakistani armies along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir and several terror attack targeting military installations.

Perimeter security will be strengthened at Army bases under six commands, the sources said.

A security audit of military bases was carried out on the recommendation of a committee headed by Lt Gen Philip Campose which was set up after the daring terror attack on the Pathankot air force base in 2016.

The committee was asked to recommend measures to beef up security at the military bases.

Following the security audit, revised standard operating procedures (SOPs) were sent to the commands of all three services to revamp their security management, including putting in place a multi-tier security structure.

A total of 3,000 sensitive bases, including 600 highly sensitive installations of the Army, Navy and the Air Force were identified by the forces months after the attack on Pathankot air base.

Separately, in July last year, the government had delegated "substantial" financial powers to the Army, the Navy and the Indian Air Force to strengthen perimeter security at sensitive bases across the country.