Bhutan, a Buddhist majority country of 800,000 people, is waiting for a modern railway connection in the next few years, thanks to the support from India. Two separate electrified railway tracks are laid to connect Kokrajhar in Assam and Banarhat in West Bengal with Gelephu and Samtse localities of the Himalayan Shangri-La. Incidentally, it will be India’s first cross-border rail link to Bhutan, which is inspired by New Delhi’s neighbourhood-first policy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently laid the foundation for various development works including the new Kokrajhar- Gelephu rail network. The project with the proposed budget of Rs 3,456 crore aims to boost trade, tourism and connectivity, which is expected to integrate Bhutan with India’s huge infrastructure network. The 69.04 kilometer fully electrified railway track is projected to connect the administrative headquarter of Bodoland Territorial Region with Gelephu. A number of new railway stations namely Balajan, Garubhasa, Runikhata, Shantipur, Dadgiri besides Gelephu are incorporated with the corridor, which would have an advanced signaling system. The other railway line connecting Banarhat in Jalpaiguri with Bhutan’s industrial town is also expected to facilitate the Bhutanese nationals to use the massive Indian railway network for fruitful purposes. The 20 km Banarhat-Samtse route is proposed with an investment plan of Rs 577 crore. The construction activities for both the railway lines, which are fully funded by New Delhi, will begin in the next few months.
Meanwhile, the Royal government of Bhutan has envisioned a mindfulness city in Gelephu and with these new initiatives the unique locality will be directly connected to Guwahati, Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, etc. With an optimized vision to connect many southeast Asian nations in future, the Gelephu Mindfulness City is expected to be a global destination. The dream for GMC, where material developments will be aligned with environmental concerns and cultural heritage, was shared by Bhutan king Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck in December 2023 while addressing the Bhutanese people on a sacred occasion. The pioneering project will have a special administrative region under a royal charter granting the GMC an executive, legislative and judicial autonomy. The mindfulness city portrays new ways of developing a world-class city amidst nature and social harmony. The planned administrative region aims to attract global tourists, talents and also investments keeping the Bhutanese flag flying under a holistic urban development initiative. Prescribed as a bridge between Bhutan’s spiritual past and a digital future, GMC will house an international airport, global standard educational institutions and specialized healthcare facilities in a natural landscape. Already works for the airport had begun and it may become operational by 2029 to emerge as the second international airport after Paro. Proposing a carbon negative region, GMC will use 100% renewable energy generated from hydropower plants along with solar, wind and geothermal sources. Covering over 2,600 square km, the world’s first mindfulness city, will cater to an initial population of 1,00,000. Bhutan turned into a democratic constitutional monarchy in 2008 as it approved a written Constitution, where the king remains a symbol of national unity with certain political power. The current king hopes that the upcoming hub of knowledge, technology and finance will generate enough employment opportunities to restrict the outflow of talented Bhutanese youths to foreign lands in search of jobs. Australia is the most sought after destination for them in the recent past, where over 25,000 Bhutanese youths migrated to the country in a continent during 2024.
The Land of the Thunder Dragon shares a 699-km border with Sikkim, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. Both Assam and south Bhutan remained connected economically and socially since the days of Kamrup. Two years back, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma visited Thimphu following a royal invitation to grace the 117th National Day celebrations in the picturesque capital city. The sacred occasion to pay tribute to all the visionary monarchs for their sacrifices in building the nation and also reaffirm the commitment to strengthen the unity, peace and sovereignty of Bhutan, paved the way for Sarma to propagate a strong diplomatic, historic and cultural bond empowering bilateral ties in power generation, irrigation and trades between the two regions.
It’s time for the people of western Assam to nurture direct benefits from the emerging Bhutanese city coming up next door.
When Shangri-La awaits rail connectivity
