By Martin Shwenk Leade

Copyright indiatimes

TIL Creatives

In a significant boost to India-Bhutan relations, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, along with Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, announced plans to connect the country to Gelephu and Samtse via new railway links at a total outlay of Rs 4,033 crore.”The India-Bhutan Railway Project aims to connect two important cities in Bhutan. As shared by the Foreign Secretary, one is Gelephu, being developed as a mindfulness city, and the other is Samtse, an industrial city. Both projects will be linked to the Indian Railways network at Kokrajar and Banarhat,” said Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.While revealing key details of the railway project, the union minister said, “The Kokrajar–Gelephu line connects to Bongaigaon, a major industrial hub in India. Kokrajar serves as the regional station, linking the project to the entire Indian railway network. In essence, by constructing approximately 70 km of new track, Bhutan gains access to 150,000 km of India’s railway network. This demonstrates the significant advantage of the network effect.” The total length of the project is about 90 kilometres and 89 kilometres of railway network will be created. “India is the largest trading partner of Bhutan and most of the exempt trade of Bhutan is done through Indian ports. Therefore, it becomes very important to have a good seamless rail connectivity for the Bhutanese economy to grow and for the people to have better access to the global network. That’s why this entire project has been undertaken…” said Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. In March 2024, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Bhutan, both countries agreed to establish two rail links between India and Bhutan: Kokrajhar-Gelephu and Banarhat-Samtse. The 16-km Banarhat-Samtse stretch will connect West Bengal with Bhutan. These lines will give Bhutan its first-ever railway connectivity.Live EventsTotal investment for the two railway line between India, Bhutan will be done by Indian government. “As you are all aware, India and Bhutan share a relationship of exceptional trust, mutual respect and understanding. This is a relationship that is rooted in cultural and civilizational ties, extensive people-to-people relations, and our shared developmental and security interests. These ties are reflected in very close contact at the highest levels,” said Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri.On India’s role in Bhutan’s development, Misri underlined, “The Government of India has been Bhutan’s largest provider of developmental assistance and has played a vital role in its modernisation, especially in the areas of infrastructure and the overall economic development of the country.””For the 13th Five-Year Plan of Bhutan, which runs from 2024 to 2029, the Government of India has committed support of Rs 10,000 crores, which covers project-wide assistance, high-impact community development projects, the economic stimulus program and a program grant. And this quantum constitutes a 100 per cent increase over the 12th five-year plan figures,” he added.Add as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now!
(You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)

Read More News onAshwini VaishnawVikram MisriNarendra Modi visit to Bhutan

(Catch all the Business News, Breaking News, Budget 2025 Events and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.) Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online….moreless

(You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)Read More News onAshwini VaishnawVikram MisriNarendra Modi visit to Bhutan(Catch all the Business News, Breaking News, Budget 2025 Events and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.) Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online….moreless