The Bhutanese Leading the way.
The first meeting of the Project Steering Committee on India Bhutan Rail Links project was held on 20th November in New Delhi. The meeting was co-chaired by Mr. Munu Mahawar, Additional Secretary (North) and Karma Wangchuk, Secretary, Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport.
The deliberations focused on the implementation modalities of the two rail links envisaged under the project: the 69-km Kokrajhar-Gelephu; and the 20-km Banarhat-Samtse. Representatives of Ministry of Railways, as well as State Govts of Assam and West Bengal participated in the meeting.
A presentation was made by the Indian side on the details of the project and it was announced that the two railway lines have been declared as Special Railway Projects.
This means that the project will have less regulatory and even environmental hurdles and it can acquire land at higher prices on the Indian side.
The Kokrajhar-Gelephu line will take around 4 years starting from 2026 with one year going in land acquisition, design and tendering and construction starting towards the end of 2026.
The Banarhat-Samtse will take 3 years with one year in land acquisition, design and tendering and two years in actual construction. This line will come 2.9 km inside Samtse and so to ensure the project is completed on time Bhutan will also start the process to acquire the land for this.
The railways station will be near the Dham Dhum industrial estate.
The Gelephu line will come in less than 1 km inside Gelephu.
Both the rail lines will get a separate terminal for passengers and goods.
It was agreed that both the sides will meet twice a year and if needed more frequently too.
In the first quarter next year a team from India is expected to also visit the sites in Bhutan to see the locations as part of a joint inspection.
The visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a positive momentum as the above visit happened soon after the PM’s visit.
The joint press release during PM Modi’s visit said both sides welcomed the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the establishment of cross-border rail links (Gelephu-Kokrajhar and Samtse-Banarhat) in September 2025 and the subsequent establishment of the Project Steering Committee for the implementation of the project.
