A business development meeting was held by Northeast Frontier Railway’s (NFR’s) Alipurduar division recently between N. F. Railway & delegations from Government of Bhutan having members from their foreign ministry, trade bodies and chamber of commerce etc. The meeting was held aiming towards trade collaborations between N. F. Railway and Government of Bhutan, supporting the logistics avenues for future linkages with Bhutan.
The delegations from Bhutan visited Hasimara railway station where an infrastructure is being strategically developed by N. F. Railway for enabling trade with Bhutan. A plan to build a siding along with a warehouse in collaborations with the Central Warehousing Corporation is underway to promote logistic trade with Bhutan.
Indian Railways has already delivered its 1st consignment of goods to Bhutan through a multi-modal route consisting of 75 utility vehicles. The vehicles were transported from Chennai to Hasimara railway station by New Modified Goods (NMG) rake, a rake specially designed to transport light motor vehicles (LMV), that reached Alipurduar division on 28th October, 2022.
Further the consignment was taken to Bhutan by roadways. The delegation intends to visit Changrabandha station in the near future. Discussion related to movement of automobiles, cement, stone commodities etc and augmenting people to people connection and tourism development were also held.
The Alipurduar division relayed to the delegates of Bhutan Government, the vision of railways as the prime eco-friendly mode of transportation for goods logistic and as a sustainable option for mass movement in the country and also in the South-East Asia.
Railway explained to the delegates of Bhutan Government the cost competitiveness and strategic abilities to transport goods in bulk and expeditiously to markets across India and Bhutan. Indian Railways already new projects for cross-border linkages by laying a broad – gauge railway track from Kokrajhar in India to Gelephu in Bhutan.