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Bhutan’s PM Tshering Tobgay expressed gratitude for India’s assistance in the Gelephu Mindfulness City’s development during the first ‘Global Cooperative Alliance conference’ in New Delhi, inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi.
Modi highlighted India’s success in forming over 800,000 cooperatives across the country.
Modi emphasized the need to link cooperatives to the circular economy to make them climate-resilient and to foster start-ups within the cooperative sector.
Gelephu project
The project is expected to be an “economic corridor connecting South Asia with Southeast Asia via India’s northeastern States”.
The city is expected to follow environmental standards and sustainability as a goal, and will aim to attract “quality investment” from “specially screened” international companies.
The project is expected to include “zero emission” industries, a “mindfulness city” that plays to Bhutan’s strength in tourism and wellness, as well as infrastructure companies.
The project is expected to be a “Special Administrative Region” that would be run under different laws to facilitate more international investment.
The project is expected to be a “point of inflection” and “transformation” for Bhutan and South Asia.
The Government of India agrees to construct the first India-Bhutan railway line to Gelephu.
Railway will also connect with roadways and border trading points into Assam and West Bengal, eventually providing Bhutan access to Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, and Singapore.
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