India, Sept. 29 -- India announced on Monday that it will build the first two cross-border railway links with Bhutan at a cost of Rs.4,033 crore, with the project being seen as part of New Delhi's efforts to bolster regional connectivity to drive economic integration and trade.

The rail links - between the Bhutanese cities of Gelephu and Samtse and Kokrajhar in Assam and Banarhat in West Bengal respectively - will entail the construction of 90 km of railway lines and the work is expected to be completed in the next four years, railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and foreign secretary Vikram Misri told a media briefing.

Gelephu is the site for an autonomous economic hub with executive and legislative powers and an independent judiciary th...