The ITBP has sent these five vehicles to its mountain

training and skiing institute in Uttarakhand's Auli where a select contingent of troops are being trained in its operations after which they will be sent to locations in Ladakh and Uttarakhand (2 each) and one to a border post above 16,000 feet in Sikkim.

Officials said the performance of these scooters will be analysed over few months and once found okay, more of such snow-terrain vehicles will be procured for the ITBP, primarily tasked to secure the Chinese frontier.

"The idea is to enhance the mobility of the troops in areas deep into the border locations and at high-altitudes.

Once they are found to be useful, important locations on this border will be provided a cluster of these scooters for an entire patrol party to travel," they said.

Last year, undertaking a maiden initiative, the force had purchased and deployed expensive SUVs, usually found zipping across roads in urban locations, at its high-altitude border posts along the Sino-India border to transport troopers.

The 80,000 personnel strong force is tasked with guarding the 3,488 km Sino-India border.

Its posts are in some of the harshest areas at this border with locations ranging from 9,000 ft to 18,000 ft where mercury often plunges to minus 20-30 degree Celsius.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)