India–China Border Roads (ICBRs, ICB Roads) is a Government of India project for developing infrastructure along the Sino-Indian border by constructing strategic roads, including bridges and tunnels. The ICBR project is largely in response to Chinese infrastructure development along the borderlands with India. Several entities are responsible for constructing ICBR, including Border Roads Organisation (BRO) which handles the bulk of the ICBR road construction work, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL), Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (MoDNER), Central Public Works Department (CPWD), public works departments of respective states and others. At least 67 per cent of the road network assigned to BRO falls under ICBR.

Three phases of ICBR roads have been approved entailing 177 roads of over total length along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China under the "Border Infrastructure and Management Fund" (BIMF) of Ministry of Home Affairs, including 73 roads of length under Phase-I and Phase-II approved since 2005 and additional 104 roads of more than length under ICBR-III approved in 2020. As of August 2024, the work on Phase-III had commenced, and the Phase-I and Phase-II were complete except some residual work from Phase-II.Border Road Organisation starts phase 3 of India, China Border Roads Project, MSN, 2024. ICBR covers construction of several roads, 18 feet wide foot tracks and border out posts (BoPs) connecting several LAC Patrol Points (PP) and Border Personnel Meeting (BPM) points. For example, in 2021 India was building 57 roads, 32 helipads, 47 BoPs, 12 staging camps for ITBP and many 18 ft tracks in Arunachal Pradesh under various ICBR phases.

India has set up an inter-departmental "Empowered Committee" (EC) headed by the Ministry of Defence to expedite the issue resolution and timely completion of ICBR infrastructure after the delay in forest/wildlife clearance and land acquisition, rugged terrain, limited working season due to winter and rains, scarcity of construction material, etc. resulted in the missed deadlines in the past. Some of the important already completed projects include the Darbuk-Shayok-Daulat Beg Oldie Road (DS-DBO) and Atal Tunnel under Rohtang Pass; and the under-construction important projects include the Sela Tunnel in Arunachal Pradesh and a road-cum-rail tunnel under the Brahmaputra River in Assam.

Overview Strategic infrastructure requirements

In the wake of heightened road and track construction work undertaken by China along India's northern and eastern frontiers, India constituted a China Study Group (CSG) in 1997, to study the requirement of road communication, along the China border for brisk movement of troops in the event of armed conflict. At the end of the study, the CSG identified a network of 73 roads, called the India–China Border Roads (ICBR), to be developed along the Indo-China border. The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) in 1999 approved the construction of these roads by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) under the Ministry of Defence. The project was to be completed by 2006 but the deadline was then extended to 2012. The Standing Committee on Defence, a body for legislative oversight, appraised strategic road connectivity in 2018. With regard to the slow pace of construction of border roads, the Border Roads Organisation stated to the committee:Standing Committee on Defence (February 2019) Fiftieth Report: Provision of all weather road connectivity under Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and other agencies up to International borders as well as the strategic areas including approach roads- An appraisal. Ministry of Defence, Lok Sabha Secretariat, Government of India. from the original on 19 June 2020. Reasons such as climate, geography, land acquisition and natural disasters also accounted for the delays. In 2013 the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government took multiple administrative decisions to speed up construction. The 2017 Doklam Standoff further raised the profile of the issue with the Modi government for border infrastructure along the China border. ICBRs are present in Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.

Border Infrastructure Management Authority (BIMA) In May 2022, Indian govt sources announced establishment of the Border Infrastructure Management Authority (BIMA) which is responsible for the integrated development of the border areas including road, rail, water, power, communications infrastructure, and the Vibrant Village Program for improvement of living conditions of natives in these areas to prevent their out-migration as the border villages are considered strategic assets.Eye on China, govt plans border infra management authority, The Times of India, 2 May 2022.

ICBR project phases

ICBR-I (Phase-1) and ICBR-II (Phase-2)

Phase-1 or ICBR-1 project was conceived in 1999 with a target completion date of 2012 to construct 73 strategic ICBRs of nearly 4000 km length. It was approved in 2005. Of the 73 ICBR in Phase-1, the construction of 61 roads was assigned to BRO and remaining 12 to CPWD. Of the 61 roads assigned to BRO, 12 roads of 1,064.14 km length in Ladakh, 5 roads of 116.99 km length in Himachal Pradesh, 14 roads of 355 km length in Uttarakhand, 3 roads of 61.98 km length in Sikkim, and 27 roads of 1,725.46 km length are in Arunachal Pradesh. ICBR-I is seen as a successor of BRO's Project HIMANK which was initiated in 1985 for the construction of border roads in Ladakh.

As of March 2021, of the 61 ICBR-I and ICBR-II roads assigned to BRO, connectivity on 59 roads of 3,205.16 km length had been achieved. Of these 61 roads where connectivity has been achieved, 42 roads of 1,530.38 km have been black topped.

ICBR-III or Phase-3

ICBR-III was approved in 2020–21 fiscal budget, to construct additional 104 roads of more than 6,700 km length. The proposal for the Phase 2 was first conceived in 2013 with the goal of constructing 32 roads along the border, expanded version of which was approved in 2020 with inclusion of additional roads. Amid the India-China skirmishes, the government asked all bodies to speed up the construction of the roads. Additional labour was also sent to these areas to assist in speeding up construction.

BIMF funding and progress of construction

ICBR infrastructure is funded by the "Border Infrastructure and Management Fund" (BIMF) which provides funding for India's border infrastructures along Bangladesh, Pakistan and China borders.

Spending on ICBR tripled between 2016 and 2020, from to . Annual funding was as follows: INR 118 billion in 2020–21, INR 80.50 billion in 2019–20, INR 67 billion in 2018–19, INR 54.50 billion in 2017–18, between INR 33 billion to INR 46 billion annually from 2008 to 2016.

Due to significantly increased annual funding, the ICBR construction picked up pace after 2014:

Road length construction completed: 4,764 km roads during 2014–20 versus 3,610 km during 2008–14. Mountain formation-cutting completed: 470 km during 2017–20 versus 230 km during 2008–17. Surface-clearing completed: 380 km during 2017–20 versus 170 km roads during 2008–17. Bridges completed: 14,450 metres length during 2014–20 versus 7,270 metres during 2008–14. Road tunnels completed: 6 tunnels during 2014–20 including Atal Tunnel at Rohtang Pass in the Himachal Pradesh versus 1 tunnel during 2008–14. Funds were also diverted from "General Staff (GS) roads" to ICBRs.

Types of ICBRs Of the 73 ICBR of 3812 km, 61 of 3323.57 km were assigned to BRO, which have been subdivided based on their usage type. China Study Group had identified roads vital for defending the whole LAC at national level. Ministry of Defence had identified sub-national level inter-state and regional roads vital for larger military logistics, which were assigned to CPWD and state PWDs. ITBP which mans the forward staging areas and frontier posts on the LAC had identified strategic roads to connect the individual posts to the main trunk and arterial roads. Other roads include connecting inter state and state level.Standing Committee on Defence (February 2021) Defence Committee Action Taken Report, Lok Sabha Secretariat, Parliament of India. Archived on 27 August 2021. The work structure for the ICBRs is divided among different agencies including the National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC), Central Public Works Department (CPWD), National Projects Construction Corporation (NPCC) and state public works departments.

List of ICB Roads Phase 1

Phase-I consists of 3812 km roads.

Key

Maplink: Interactive map with road. OSM ID: Provides a link to road on OpenStreetMap (OSM) in the form of a relation. Status: Status does not represent current state of the road. Length: Present / planned Comments and citation: Further information about the road including bridges and tunnels.

Arunachal Pradesh

In Arunachal Pradesh the ICBR project, in coordination with other government programmes, has connected a number of border outposts and frontier areas to the national highway network such as Kharsang La, Taksing, Lamang, Gelling, Kibithu and Dichu. Major road projects in Arunachal Pradesh include the 'Sela Pass project' which consists of the under construction Sela Tunnel.

+Representative list of ICB roads in Arunachal Pradesh Route of roadMaplink/OSM IDInteractive Map District Length Status CommentsAssam – Arunachal Pradesh Orang-Kalaktang-Shergaon-Roopa- Tenga (OKSRT) West Kameng Completed in 2016 It provides alternate access to western flank of National Highway 13 which also goes to Tawang. Bridges at Kalaktang, Gajni, Shikari, Sher, Balemu, Bomnag, Haflong. Arunachal PradeshTato-Manigong-TadagadeShi YomiPartially completeTato is 47 km southeast of Mechuka, Manigong is 9 km west of Mechuka, Tadagade is 33 km from Manigong.Bona-GellingUpper SiangCompleteGelling is last Indian post on LAC. Gelling lies northeast of Bona. This is an extension of the Tuting-Bona-Gelling road.Tame Chung Chung-TaksingUpper SubansiriCompleted in 2017The road from Nacho goes to Tame Chung Chung (TCC) at Gelensiniak. From there it diverges towards Taksing and Maja (also spelt Maza), both close to the border. Work on TCC-Taksing started in 2000 but was completed in 2017. The road TCC-Bidak was completed in 2018.Tame Chung Chung-MajaComplete till BidakNacho-Tame Chung ChungPartially completeJang-Rama SapperTawangCompleted in 2016It provides access to Tawang and forms the northern/upper part of National Highway 13. It was completed in 2016. It is a part of the unfinished Balipara-Charduar-Tawang road. (Jang also spelt as Jung)K P Purushotham (2017) History of Project Vartak. Border Roads Organisation, India. pg 8.Sangetsar Tso-Kharsang LaComplete It lies very close to and southeast of Bum La Pass, north of Tawang, east of Lumpo and it forms the part of Bum La Road. BRO ensure maintenances. Image of Sangetsar Tso. Zemithang-KhinzemaneCompleteThe upper portion of the road is close to the Namka Chu river.Yarlung-LamangShi YomiN/AN/ALamang is last Indian outpost near Mechuka. Yarlung post is en route Lamang.

Uttarakhand

In Uttarakhand, the border most points of Pulam Sumda, Mana Pass, Niti Pass, Lapthal and Rimkhim, and Lipulekh have been connected.