Kolkata: The West Bengal government has approved the Defence Research and Development Organisation’s (DRDO) proposal concerning a weapons and missile testing facility at Junput in Purba Medinipur district, reviving a long-pending defence project along the state’s coast.
Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said the project would be a major development for West Bengal. The proposed facility is located along the Bay of Bengal and is expected to function as an additional operational area for the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur in neighbouring Odisha.
Junput to Support Chandipur Testing Facility
The Junput facility was proposed by DRDO in 2024 as an additional testing location because of the high volume of activity at Chandipur.
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Key points:
- Junput is around 70 km from Chandipur along the Bay of Bengal.
- The facility is intended to supplement the existing Integrated Test Range in Odisha.
- The project would provide an additional location for testing missiles and other weapon systems.
- The proposed range is expected to become another major DRDO testing hub alongside Chandipur and the proposed facility in Andhra Pradesh.
The existing ITR in Odisha operates through two launch complexes and is used for trials of various missile and weapon systems.
Project Had Faced Delays
The Junput project is not entirely new. In a Rajya Sabha reply in August 2024, the Defence Ministry said land acquisition for the facility had been completed after obtaining necessary clearances, while roads and hard-standing infrastructure had also been constructed.
The ministry had said testing activity was temporarily halted because of local unrest. It had also stated that residents within a one-kilometre radius would be evacuated during testing, with compensation and safe shelter arrangements.
The latest approval from the West Bengal government comes after Adhikari said the state had responded to DRDO’s earlier communication regarding the project. A senior DRDO source also confirmed that the testing project is coming up in West Bengal.
Defence Testing Capacity
The Junput facility is expected to add capacity to India’s eastern-coast weapons testing network while complementing the existing ITR at Chandipur.
The specific missile systems to be tested at Junput have not been publicly disclosed. Reports have described the facility as being intended for testing strategically important weapon systems.
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