India announces ₹4,030 crore railway project with Bhutan
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw (file photo)
| Photo Credit:
ANI
India and Bhutan will develop their first cross-border rail link, a ₹4,030-crore ($454 million) project slated for completion in four years.
“Huge benefit to the people of Bhutan. The entire area will get connected,” said Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw at a press conference in New Delhi Monday. “Lots of goods movement, which takes days today, will start happening in a few hours.”
The project will link West Bengal and Assam to two towns in Bhutan via separate rail lines, with stations along each route. Together, the lines will span about 90 kilometers.
The agreement will be formally signed later Monday with the Bhutanese foreign secretary in Delhi, his Indian counterpart Vikram Misri said. The two countries have already established road connectivity through “integrated check posts and trade routes and new immigration points,” Misri said.
India remains highly influential in Bhutan, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi announcing an assistance program of 100 billion rupees over a five-year period in 2024.
India is Bhutan’s largest trading partner and most of the country’s trade passes through India, Vaishnaw said.
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Published on September 30, 2025
