New Delhi: India on Monday announced that it will build two railway links with Bhutan at a cost of roughly Rs 4,033 crore as part of its push for connectivity and economic integration.
The projects will extend the Indian Railways network to link Banarhat in West Bengal with Samtse in Bhutan, and Kokrajhar in Assam with Gelephu in Bhutan.
“Some of you who are following developments in Bhutan closely would be aware that the government there is developing the Gelephu Mindfulness City project bordering Assam. This is an initiative under the direct guidance of the King of Bhutan. It is envisaged as an economic hub connecting Bhutan with South Asia and Southeast Asia,” Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said at a briefing.
Misri added: “It’s a flagship initiative of the country, and the Government of India has conveyed its support. Similarly, Samtse, which borders West Bengal, is being developed as an important industrial town in Bhutan for manufacturing and export. These links will be critical for enhancing cargo and passenger movement.”
Union Railway Minister Ashwani Vaishnaw said that about 89 kilometres of track will be built to ensure seamless connectivity between the two countries and to ease the flow of goods.
The announcement comes as Thimphu and Beijing move towards demarcating their boundary disputes. Over the past decade, China has prioritised large transport projects under its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), investing close to a trillion dollars in ports, railways and airports.
India has been stepping up its role in regional connectivity. Earlier this year, India and six other BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) members announced a maritime cooperation agreement to boost regional transport links. Bhutan and Nepal, both landlocked, are part of BIMSTEC alongside Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and India.
India has also promoted initiatives such as the India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), first mooted at the G20 summit in New Delhi, and the long-standing International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), which aims to link Mumbai with Moscow. Momentum has recently increased on the Eastern Maritime Corridor connecting Chennai with Vladivostok, and India continues to push for completion of the India–Myanmar–Thailand highway that would link Moreh in Manipur with Mae Sot in Thailand via Myanmar.
Details of the rail-link projects
Around 80 per cent of Bhutan’s trade—both imports and exports—is with India, Misri noted. A 2016 bilateral trade agreement allows Bhutan duty-free transit for goods to and from third countries.
“And most of Bhutan’s export-import (EXIM) trade is done through Indian ports. Therefore, good rail connectivity is important for the Bhutanese economy to grow and for people to access global markets. That is why this project has been taken up. Samtse and Gelephu are important to Bhutan’s economic plans,” Vaishnaw said.
The Kokrajhar–Gelephu line will be about 70 kilometres long, with six stations, nearly 100 bridges and roughly 40 underpasses. Construction is expected to take around four years.
The Banarhat–Samtse line is roughly 19 kilometres long and will include two stations, one major bridge, 24 minor bridges, one flyover and at least 37 underpasses. That line is projected to cost Rs 577 crore and take about three years to complete.
Both lines will carry passengers and freight and will be designed to run Vande Bharat trains, with the latest signalling technology installed across India.
“The two areas chosen are both strategically important. Gelephu is the centrepiece of the Gelephu Mindfulness City project, conceived by the King of Bhutan, and one for which we have expressed our support,” Misri said. “This project is envisaged as an economic hub for that part of Bhutan and, because it borders Assam, the region is likely to see significant economic spillovers. The rail network will be an important part of that.”
India will fund the sections on its side. The few kilometres of track to be built within Bhutan will be financed from the Rs 10,000 crore allocation New Delhi announced for Thimphu’s 13th Five-Year Plan (FYP) for 2024–29.
(Edited by Shashank Kishan)
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