The BRICS TimesNew railway connections will link Bhutanese towns Gelephu and Samtse with Assam’s Kokrajhar and West Bengal’s Banarhat, boosting trade and connectivity in four years.
India Announces Landmark Rail Project With Bhutan
India confirmed on Monday that it will construct the first two cross-border railway lines with Bhutan, costing ₹4,033 crore. The move reflects New Delhi’s push to strengthen regional connectivity and encourage trade growth across South Asia.
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Details of the Rail Links
The new railway routes will connect Gelephu in Bhutan with Kokrajhar in Assam and Samtse in Bhutan with Banarhat in West Bengal. Together, the project will cover 90 km of railway tracks, expected to finish within four years. Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri shared these details during a press briefing.
Gelephu and Samtse to Become Economic Hubs
Bhutan’s King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck launched an autonomous economic hub in Gelephu, complete with legislative and judicial powers. The Indian government has expressed full support for this flagship initiative. Similarly, Samtse is being developed as an industrial hub to expand Bhutan’s trade links with South Asia.
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Boosting Regional Trade and Access
Once operational, the two railway lines will give Bhutan access to India’s vast railway system, making it easier to transport goods to sea ports and third countries such as Nepal and Bangladesh. Analysts see the project as New Delhi’s strong response to China’s growing attempts to build railway links in the region.
India-Bhutan Trade Relations Strengthen
“India is the largest trading partner of Bhutan and most of the export-import trade of Bhutan is done through Indian ports. Therefore, it becomes very important to have good seamless rail connectivity for the Bhutanese economy to grow and for the people to have better ways of access to the global network,” Vaishnaw said.
Technical Aspects of the Railway Lines
The Kokrajhar-Gelephu stretch will be 70 km long, featuring six stations and nearly 100 bridges. The Banarhat-Samtse line will extend 20 km with two stations and around 25 bridges. According to Vaishnaw, both freight and passenger trains will run on these lines. They will also feature advanced signalling systems and will be capable of handling electrified Vande Bharat trains.
Funding and Timeline of the Project
Misri highlighted that the Indian sections will be financed by the Ministry of Railways. Meanwhile, the Bhutanese sections, slightly over two kilometres each, will be funded through India’s ₹10,000 crore contribution to Bhutan’s 13th Five-Year Plan (2024–2029).
Work to Begin Soon
Vaishnaw confirmed that work, including land acquisition, will commence very soon. The Land Ports Authority of India is also developing new integrated check posts (ICPs) along the Bhutan border. Both nations will jointly finalize security arrangements for the new rail corridors.
