India announces mega infra project in Bhutan, to invest Rs 4,033 cr in first cross-border railway lines

In a significant development, India and Bhutan have agreed to launch two cross-border railway projects connecting Banarhat to Samtse and Kokrajhar to Gelephu, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri announced on Monday (Sept 29).

The new rail lines will link West Bengal’s Banarhat and Assam’s Kokrajhar to key Bhutanese cities. “This will be the first set of rail connectivity projects with Bhutan. The memorandum of understanding for this connectivity was actually signed during the visit of the Prime Minister to Bhutan last year,” Misri said at a press briefing.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be signed later in New Delhi during the visit of Bhutan’s Foreign Secretary. This will mark the first-ever cross-border railway projects between India and Bhutan.

“India and Bhutan share a relationship of exceptional trust, mutual respect and understanding. This relationship is rooted in cultural and civilizational ties, extensive people-to-people relations, and our shared developmental and security interests,” Misri added.

Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the projects will connect two important Bhutanese cities. “One is Gelephu, which is being developed as a mindfulness city. And secondly, Samtse, which is an industrial city,” he explained. Samtse will be linked to Banarhat and Gelephu to Kokrajhar.

“The two projects will take off from the Indian railway network at Kokrajhar and Banarhat. The envisaged investment at this stage is about Rs 4,033 crore, covering a total length of roughly 90 km,” Vaishnaw added.

The minister highlighted that India is Bhutan’s largest trading partner, and seamless rail connectivity will help grow Bhutan’s economy while providing its people better access to the global network.