Vaishnaw Announces India-Bhutan Cross-Border Rail Projects Worth Rs 4,033 Crore
The two railway lines will be connected to West Bengal’s Banarhat and Assam’s Kokrajhar.
Published : September 29, 2025 at 6:34 PM IST
New Delhi: In a significant tie-up, India and Bhutan have agreed to launch two cross-border railway projects worth Rs 4,033 crore. The two railway lines will be connected to West Bengal’s Banarhat and Assam’s Kokrajhar.
At a media briefing in New Delhi, Union Minister for Railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw, on Monday said, “The investment which is envisaged at this point is about Rs 4,033 crore. To be precise, 89 kilometres of railway network will be created. The rail connectivity Projects connect two very important cities of Bhutan, Gelephu, which is being developed as a mindfulness city and Samtse, which is an industrial city.”
Explaining about the project between India and Bhutan, Vaishnaw informed that India is the largest trading partner of Bhutan and most of the export trade of Bhutan is done through Indian ports.
“Therefore, it becomes very important to have a good seamless rail connectivity for the economy of Bhutan to grow and for the people to have better access to the global network,” he stated.
Foreign secretary Vikram Misri said the two governments have agreed to establish two cross-border rail links between Banarhat and Samtse and Kokrajhar and Gelephu. This will be the first set of rail connectivity projects with Bhutan.
He further added that the Memorandum of Understanding for the connectivity was signed during the visit of the Prime Minister to Bhutan, and an MoU will be formally signed in New Delhi on the occasion of the visit of the Bhutanese Foreign Secretary to New Delhi.
India-Bhutan rail connectivity:
Kokrajhar-Gelephu: The 69-km new line will be developed. The route will cover six stations, two important bridges and two viaducts. Besides, 29 major bridges , 65 minor bridges, two good sheds, one road over bridges and 39 road under bridges will come under its ambit. The duration is four years.
Banarhat-Samtse: The 20-km new line will be developed. It will cover two stations , one major bridge, 24 minor bridges, one road over bridge, and 37 road under bridges. The schedule is 3 years.
At present, India is the largest trading partner for Bhutan. Indian ports facilitate Bhutan’s international trade. Samtse and Gelephu, major EXIM hubs in Bhutan, serve a 700 km-long border. India eyes strengthening connectivity for Bhutanese economic centres.
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