Considering the recent occupation, house arrest, and disabling of all cellular communications of the entire region of Kashmir, it’s worth considering the possibility that this scientific effort was made for political ends.
My point isn’t that it’s a distraction, but that it’s also about building party power. Kashmir is just the brightest, clearest signal regarding the goals of his administration.
Edit: While the push to complete it came in 2015, it was (see poster below) in the works as far back as 2007, and I was mistaken to think it’s directly attributable to Modi.
It's just lazy to lay every action at Modi's feet.