On 6 November 2026, Parade Ground, Dehradun became the stage for one of Uttarakhand's largest single-day infrastructure pushes — as Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah and Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami jointly launched and laid the foundation for 62 development schemes worth ₹1,475.31 crore, as announced by the Chief Minister's Office of Uttarakhand on X. The event unfolded under the umbrella of the Uttarakhand Rajyotsav (state foundation day festival), a week-long celebration running from 6 to 13 November.

₹1,475 crore across 62 schemes: who gets what

The announcement broke down into two categories: 44 schemes worth ₹1,073.11 crore received foundation-stone laying (shilānyas), while 18 completed schemes worth ₹402.20 crore were formally inaugurated (lokārpan). The sectors covered span the daily essentials of Uttarakhand's residents — roads, electricity, drinking water, urban development, education, tourism, and healthcare infrastructure.

The single largest slice went to the power sector. The state utility UPCL (Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited) had 20 schemes worth ₹472.33 crore launched and three schemes worth ₹77.93 crore inaugurated, aimed at strengthening electricity supply and expanding grid infrastructure across the state.

Drinking water, roads, and the Kumbh countdown

Drinking water was the second-biggest focus. The Jal Nigam saw eight schemes worth ₹191.17 crore laid and five completed schemes worth ₹82.03 crore opened, while the Jal Sansthan added two more schemes worth ₹62.30 crore. Together, these are designed to extend piped drinking water access to ordinary residents across the hills and plains.

The Public Works Department (PWD) opened three completed road projects worth ₹99.68 crore and initiated one new one worth ₹18.78 crore. Urban development got ₹92.25 crore in new foundations and ₹10.95 crore in inaugurations — and critically, several of these urban works are being fast-tracked with one eye firmly on Kumbh Mela 2027 in Haridwar, which will draw millions of pilgrims and demands roads, bridges, and utilities built to scale before the gathering begins.

Tourism flagship: Dobra-Chanthi Park and Hemkunt Sahib ropeway

Tourism, one of Uttarakhand's economic pillars, received ₹43.70 crore across two schemes. These include the Dobra-Chanthi Park project in Tehri and electrification works for the Shri Hemkunt Sahib Ropeway project — a long-awaited connectivity upgrade to the high-altitude Sikh shrine in Chamoli district, which attracts hundreds of thousands of pilgrims each year.

Cyber centre in Dehradun, dairy plant in Sitarganj

Beyond the traditional infrastructure verticals, the event flagged two notable new facilities. A Cyber Excellence Centre in Dehradun, estimated at ₹31.63 crore, was initiated under the Home Department — a pointed acknowledgement that modern policing infrastructure is now part of the state capital's growth agenda. Haldwani gets a new fire station residential complex at ₹36.64 crore.

The Dairy Development Department laid the stone for a ₹48.21 crore complex in Sitarganj, which will house a milk powder plant, an ice cream plant, and a bakery unit — a supply-chain investment that could directly benefit the state's dairy farmers. Technical education was not overlooked either: a new Government Polytechnic building in New Tehri (₹35.06 crore) was initiated, and three completed technical education facilities worth ₹61.98 crore were formally opened.

Centre-state alignment on display

The presence of Amit Shah at a state foundation-day event is not incidental. Uttarakhand, governed by the BJP under Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, has consistently leveraged Centre-state synergies to channel infrastructure investment into a state whose mountainous terrain makes development both expensive and logistically demanding. Bundling launches at the Rajyotsav — an annual tradition — allows the government to demonstrate concentrated delivery to voters. The ₹1,475 crore figure, spread across power, water, tourism, education, policing, and dairy processing, signals a deliberate attempt to show breadth alongside scale.

With the Kumbh Mela 2027 clock ticking and projects spanning from high-altitude ropeways to cyber-crime centres, the development blueprint unveiled at Parade Ground today will now be measured by one standard: completion on time, before the pilgrims arrive.