New Delhi, Sept 30 – India has announced plans to construct the first-ever cross-border railway lines with Bhutan, a landmark connectivity initiative that will also allow Bangladesh and Nepal to trade with the Himalayan kingdom through Indian rail networks.
The projects will link Bhutan’s Gelephu and Samtse with Kokrajhar in Assam and Banarhat in West Bengal, spanning about 90 kilometres in total. Work is expected to begin soon and finish within four years, Indian Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri told reporters in New Delhi.
Gelephu has been chosen as the site of a new autonomous economic hub launched by Bhutan’s King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, complete with executive and legislative powers and its own judiciary. Bhutan is also developing an industrial hub in Samtse, and the rail projects are expected to boost both initiatives.
Misri explained that the new lines will fit into the existing Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal (BBIN) connectivity framework, enabling seamless regional trade.
“Any exports from Nepal and Bangladesh going to Bhutan will also be able to use this Indian rail connectivity, and Bhutan’s exports can similarly move through India,” Misri said.
Under the financing plan, the Indian Railways will cover costs for the sections in Indian territory, while the two short stretches inside Bhutan (slightly over two km each) will be funded by New Delhi under its Rs 10,000 crore allocation for Bhutan’s 13th Five-Year Plan (2024–2029).
The initiative is part of India’s broader strategy to deepen South Asian sub-regional connectivity, a region that remains among the least integrated globally in terms of intra-regional trade.