Border Roads Organisation The Border Roads Organisation ( BRO ) maintains roads that serve the borders areas of India . It is staffed with a combination of Border Roads Engineering Service officers from the General Reserve Engineer Force ( GREF ) and officers from the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army civil engineers from College of Military Engineering Kirkee Pune . The organisation develops and maintains arterial roads on the borders of India . The BRO is also involved in the construction of a tunnel at the Rohtang pass . BRO ' s activities have also helped to accelerate the economic development of the North and North - Eastern border states of India . The road - construction teams have to deal with harsh climatic conditions . The BRO faces environments like the icy Himalayan mountaintops , the marshes of West Bengal , and the deserts in Rajasthan . The BRO builds and maintains roads at high altitude ; Some of the BRO roads are built as high as above mean sea level . The Border Roads Organisation operates a network of over of roads and of permanent bridges . BRO has operations in twenty - two states , including the Andaman and Nicobar Islands , a union territory . History . The BRO was formed on 7 May 1960 as the Border Roads Development Board with Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru as its chairman . BRO is led by the Director General of Border Roads , who holds the rank of Lieutenant General . Structure . The BRO consists of the General Reserve Engineer Force ( GREF ) — the execution force — under the Ministry of Surface Transport , and officers from Indian Army Corps of Engineers , who are deputed on loan to this organisation . The GREF includes civil , electrical , and mechanical engineers . They are selected from engineering colleges across India through the Indian Engineering Services examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission . The staff also includes administrative officers , supervisors , and other trades . The organisation ' s operations are spread across India , Bhutan , Myanmar , Tajikistan , and Afghanistan . The fundamental unit of the BRO is similar to a platoon . The functional platoon , composed of civil engineer officers from the GREF and civil engineers from the College of Military Engineering , Kirkee Pune , is in charge of activities such as formation cutting , surfacing , and safety mechanisms to maintain correct road geometry . BRO units also handle the construction of permanent and temporary bridges , causeways , and airfields . The BRO includes 18 Projects , which are divided into Task Forces , Road Construction Companies ( RCCs ) , Bridge Construction Companies ( BCCs ) , Drain Maintenance Companies ( DMCs ) , and other functional platoons . The organisation also includes base workshops , store divisions , training and recruitment centers , and other staff . The BRO is also in charge of maintenance of its road networks . In many places landslides , avalanches and snow block the routes and have to cleared as quickly as possible . BRO also employs the more than two lakh ( 200 , 000 ) local workers in the task . An Internal Financial Advisor supports the BRO , performing the roles of Chief Accounts Officer and Internal Auditor . This system was introduced on 23 March 1995 to introduce efficiency and improve resource utilisation . The IFA secured ISO 9001 certification in December 1999 . Projects / Initiatives . The BRO undertakes projects in India and friendly countries . These projects typically include developing roads , bridges , and airfields in hostile environments shunned by private enterprises , whether due to security concerns related to hostilities , or because of environmental challenges . Some of these projects carry out some of the development initiatives of the Indian government in foreign territories like Tajikistan , Afghanistan , Myanmar , and Bhutan . These include the Delaram - Zaranj Highway in Afghanistan , completed and handed over to the Afghan government during 2008 , and the restoration of the Farkhor and Ayni air bases in Tajikistan . The BRO also played a vital role in reconstruction work in the aftermath of the devastating 2004 Tsunami in Tamil Nadu , the 2005 Kashmir earthquake , and the 2010 Ladakh flash floods . Issues . The organisation employs labourers locally . No local labourer is deployed in the GREF for more than 179 days at a stretch , thus keeping the nature of their employment casual .