The Centre will build a bus terminus and a market complex near the Bhutan border at Chamurchi in Jalpaiguri district, signalling its intent to engage with the new government of the Himalayan nation by developing infrastructure at one of the three points of entry between the two neighbours.

The development of infrastructure on the border will increase people-to-people contact and also boost commerce.

A new party, the Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa (DNT), has taken power in Bhutan, a strategic country placed between India and China. Bhutan and India have traditionally had friendly ties.

“We all know that China has been trying to woo Bhutan for some time. The attempt to engage more with Thimphu is good diplomacy,” said a source.

Chamurchi village is one of the three points in Bengal from where roads lead to Bhutan. Samtse, a town in Bhutan, is on the other side of the border. The other two points are Birpara-Gomtu and Jaigaon-Phuentsholing, both in the neighbouring district of Alipurduar. However, Phuentsholing is the principal entry and exit point.

“It has been decided that a bus terminus and a market complex will be built in Chamurchi. We have identified a 1-hectare plot of the Chamurchi tea estate for this. The garden management has given us a no-objection certificate…,” said Shilpa Gourisaria, the Jalpaiguri district magistrate.

Sources in the administration said the instruction to augment facilities along the border had come from the Centre. The Bengal government’s planning and development department will build the infrastructure with funds from the Centre.

Now, only a few vehicles take the Samtse-Chamurchi route, but the volume is expected to increase once the infrastructure is put in place.

“It seems India wants to provide alternative routes to its landlocked neighbour (Bhutan) and create opportunities for economic growth,” a source said.

The decision to build infrastructure has brought cheer to the business and tourism sectors.

“Jaigaon is the principal commercial hub on the Bhutan border. However, pressure on the town is increasing every day because of a spike in the movement of people and scale of trade. If the Samtse-Chamurchi route is developed as a second transit point (after Phuentsholing), it would help in increasing bilateral trade and benefit both countries,” said Purajit Bakshigupta, general secretary, North Bengal National Chambers of Commerce and Industries.