India to build first cross-border railway with Bhutan
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Indian Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw (waving) outside a tunnel completed as part of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project on Sept 20.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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New Delhi – India and Bhutan will build the first cross-border railway lines connecting both countries, New Delhi announced on Sept 29, with the US$454 million (S$586 million) project to be completed in four years.
Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said his country, which is Bhutan’s main trading partner, “has played a vital role” in the modernisation of the Himalayan kingdom’s infrastructure and economy.
The rail project will be of “huge benefit to the people of Bhutan”, Indian Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said.
“The entire area will get connected. And lots of goods movement, which takes days today, will start happening in a few hours.”
An initial 69km-long railway, estimated to cost 34.56 billion rupees (S$502 million), will connect India’s north-eastern city of Kokrajhar to Bhutan’s Gelephu, a town of 10,000 people near the Indian border.
A second 20km-long railway line, expected to cost 5.77 billion rupees, will link Bhutan’s industrial centre of Samtse to Banarhat in India.
Tiny and landlocked, with a population of less than 800,000, Bhutan is wedged between China and India and is known for its policy of prioritising “gross national happiness” over growth.
But it hopes to develop Gelephu as an economic zone to attract foreign investment and tourists, with the new railway playing a key role in its development.
“It is envisaged as an economic hub connecting Bhutan with South Asia and South-east Asia,” Mr Misri said.
Mr Vaishnaw said that the new train lines will be electric and designed to be as environmentally friendly as possible. AFP
