India is moving closer to establishing a new DRDO weapons-testing facility at Junput in West Bengal after the state government advanced the required clearances, the Times of India reported. The proposed site is situated in Junput village in Purba Medinipur district, near Digha. It is roughly 177 kilometres from Kolkata and about 70 kilometres from Chandipur’s Integrated Test Range in Odisha.The planned installation will occupy approximately 8.73 acres on the Bay of Bengal coast. Its position is expected to provide access to coastal test corridors suitable for defence trials while also supporting safer testing conditions away from heavily populated locations.Junput is being developed partly to address the growing workload at Chandipur. The existing range handles numerous missile and weapon trials, and a second testing location could distribute activities more efficiently. Under the proposed arrangement, Junput could focus on short-range missile systems, radar equipment and related technologies, while Chandipur continues to handle long-range and strategic missile testing.The project had reportedly faced administrative delays, but officials have now indicated that outstanding issues have been resolved. The latest progress demonstrates coordination between the West Bengal government and DRDO to accelerate the development of defence infrastructure.The coastal environment also offers potential advantages for missile trajectory observation and radar calibration. More broadly, the facility is expected to strengthen India’s defence research infrastructure by adding another location for testing indigenous systems. Increasing the number of available test sites could reduce congestion, improve programme schedules and give DRDO greater operational flexibility as India’s domestic defence industry continues to expand.
