Overview

• The inter-governmental MoU was signed in New Delhi by Railway Board Chairman Satish Kumar and Bhutan Foreign Secretary Aum Pema Choden, formally launching the first rail connections between the two countries.
• The projects cover roughly 89 km in total, comprising the 69–70 km Kokrajhar–Gelephu line and the 19–20 km Banarhat–Samtse line, both fully electrified for freight and passenger services.
• Funding places Indian segments under Indian Railways and Bhutan stretches under India’s Ministry of External Affairs support for Bhutan’s 13th Five-Year Plan, with total costs reported between Rs 4,033 crore and Rs 4,600 crore.
• Completion targets are four years for Kokrajhar–Gelephu and three years for Banarhat–Samtse, and the Kokrajhar–Gelephu line has been notified as a Special Railway Project to accelerate clearances starting in FY2025–26.
• Officials say the links will lower logistics costs and support Bhutan’s Gelephu Mindfulness City and Samtse’s industrial hub, with environmental safeguards such as elephant corridors built into designs.