<span style="color: #222222;">Defence Minister Rajnath Singh today lauded Border Roads Organisation for its incomparable role in encouraging tourism through projects like Atal Tunnel. He said this while inaugurating the Border Roads Organisation Tourism portal in New Delhi. Atal Tunnel is a highway tunnel built under the Rohtang Pass in the eastern Pir Panjal Range of the Himalayas on the Leh-Manali Highway in Himachal Pradesh. The Minister commended the BRO for playing an incomparable role in promoting tourism in border areas. He made special mention of the setting up of BRO Cafes at 75 places in far-flung areas, expressing confidence that these cafes will provide basic amenities to the travellers, promote tourism in remote areas and strengthen the local economy.<br />''<br />''Mr Singh also praised the BRO for constructing more than 60 thousand kilometres of roads, 850 major bridges, 19 airstrips and four tunnels over the last six decades. He said BRO plays a vital role in nation-building through infrastructure development in remote and inaccessible areas. He stressed the importance of connectivity and infrastructure in the development of the nation, saying that roads, bridges and tunnels in border areas play a central role in ensuring the socio-economic development of the region, besides catering to the needs of the Armed Forces. The Minister called for devising a plan to promote defence tourism and suggested visits to historic battlefields and defence establishments with the help of industry, start-ups and ex-servicemen<br />''<br />''The user-friendly BRO tourism website aims to facilitate e-booking of guided tours to the road infrastructure projects constructed by the BRO. In the initial phase, only e-Booking for a guided tour to Atal Tunnel, Rohtang will be available through the portal. Soon, infrastructure projects in Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh will be included for guided tours. The world's highest motorable road at Umling La Pass, state-of-the-art bi-lane Sela Tunnel and Nechiphu Tunnel are among the projects which will be included.</span><br />