As Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation for various development works for western Assam, including a new rail network connecting neighbouring Bhutan with Kokrajhar on 13 March, a new dream materialised. Addressing a huge gathering virtually at Guwahati, PM Modi also dedicated a number of railway infrastructure projects, including the Kokrajhar-Gelephu (south Bhutan) rail link, which will be the first railway connection between India and Bhutan.
The project, with a proposed budget of Rs 1,000 crore, aims to boost trade, tourism and connectivity, and will connect the administrative headquarters of Bodoland Territorial Region in Assam with Gelephu. The 69.04 kilometre railway corridor is expected to be commissioned by 2029. Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, in September last year, announced another railway line connecting an industrial town in Bhutan with Banarhat in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal. The 20-km Banarhat-Samtse route, with a planned outlay of Rs 577 crore, will facilitate Bhutanese nationals in using the massive Indian railway network for various purposes in the coming days.
While unveiling various development projects worth Rs 4,570 crore in Kokrajhar during his latest visit to Assam, Mr Modi observed that the upcoming rail links with Bhutan as well as modernisation of various railway stations would turn the region into a logistics hub. To this end, the Union government in Delhi has already committed a financial support of Rs 10,000 crores to Bhutan in the 13th five-year (2024 to 2029) plan. The Kokrajhar-Gelephu rail link will be the first-ever railway line in the landlocked Himalayan kingdom of 800,000 people. More importantly, the rail line will connect a projected “mindfulness city” in Gelephu in the Sarpang region of Bhutan, which borders Chirang district of Assam.
Kokrajhar will later connect Bongaigaon, an industrial hub, with a new 70-km railway track, and thus Gelephu will be connected to all major Indian cities, including Guwahati, Siliguri, Kolkata, among others. Additionally, an upgraded four-lane road is on the cards, connecting Gelephu with Guwahati. These activities focus on the Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC), a proposed city with a difference, where material developments will be strictly aligned with environmental concerns and cultural heritage. Envisaged by the Bhutan king, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, the pioneering project was brought to light by the young monarch himself while addressing the nation on 17 December, 2023.
On the occasion of the 116th National Day in Thimphu, the visionary Wangchuck dynasty scion declared a special administrative region in Gelephu, following a royal charter granting it an executive, legislative and judicial autonomy. Enhancing the philosophy of Gross National Happiness, which the Land of the Thunder Dragon practices over material growth (Gross Domestic Product), the GMC 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.
GMC prescribes a bridge between Bhutan’s spiritual past and digital future. It will house an international airport, global standard educational institutions and specialised healthcare facilities in a natural landscape. Work on the airport has already begun and may become operational by 2029 to emerge as the second aviation infrastructure after Paro international airport. Proposed as a carbon negative region, GMC will use 100% renewable energy generated from hydropower plants along with solar, wind and geothermal sources. Promising at least 60 per cent of its land area under forest cover, GMC pledges to enhance biodiversity, improve water quality, and also mitigate the risk of floods.
Covering over 2,600 sq km, the world’s first mindfulness city will cater an initial population of 1,00,000, which will be increased up to one million residents by 2065. A modern Buddhist oasis, GMC poses to be a hub of knowledge, technology and finance, and will belong to every Bhutanese national, according to what the Bhutan king said recently. The employment generated by the economic activities will help reduce the outflow of talented Bhutanese youth to foreign lands in search of jobs. A large number of them often prefer to go abroad for higher studies and also subsequent work with an aim to achieve a better economic opportunity.
Australia is the most sought after destination in the recent past, with over 25,000 youths having migrated to the country till 2024. Besides the GMC, the Royal government in Thimphu has taken a number of initiatives to counter the exodus of the working-age population. Meanwhile, Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani has joined the GMC as a founding member, which was recently revealed by the concerned authorities, saying his ‘association reflects a shared alignment with Bhutan’s value-based development philosophy’.
With decades of experience in large-scale infrastructure across energy, logistics and connectivity, and leadership in renewable and sustainable systems, Adani’s expertise complements the GMC’s ambition to build future-ready infrastructure while safeguarding natural and human capital. Adani termed the GMC as a visionary initiative of Bhutan monarch Jigme Khesar, reflecting the Buddhist majority nation’s enduring commitment to mindful and sustainable development. The Group has already signed an official agreement for generating 5,000 megawatt hydropower in Bhutan. Bhutan shares nearly 700 km border with Sikkim, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam.
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 trade between the two regions. Now the GMC is expected to be a flag bearer of all kinds of bilateral activities in the coming days.
(THE WRITER IS A GUWAHATI-BASED SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE STATESMAN)