West Bengal, Sikkim join forces to boost road connectivity ahead of summer tourism.

Posted by MarinetoAlpine on Friday, 4th April 2025.

The governments of West Bengal and Sikkim have entered into a mutual Memorandum of Understanding for providing better inter-state transport movement and services for summer tourists at the eastern Himalayan destinations.

Bengal's transport minister Snehashish Chakraborty and Sikkim's transport department adviser Madan Cinturi, along with some other officials met on March 2025 at Siliguri for the first time in three years.

Both sides are inclined towards increasing in number of buses operated between Siliguri and Gangtok from the existing 3000 to 4000. There are also plans to include electric buses in that route.
Aside from the most popular Siliguri-Gangtok route, the Bengal government is also interested in promoting travel to Gangtok from other North Bengal districts like Alipurduar and Malda.

Siliguri car service owners complained that the state government made it compulsory for vehicles from Bengal to Sikkim to get temporary permit which is issued for 14 to 28 days for which they are paying more than the Sikkim operators. A commercial cab registered in Bengal while entering or leaving Sikkim also has to pay an additional Rs. 200, while there is no such stipulation on vehicles registered in the Himalayan state.

State transport minister Snehashish Chakraborty mentioned that the existing agreement between the two states was under review. "There are some problem areas which have been discussed.

Confidently the new agreement will be drawn with consensus from both sides," the minister said. "Officials in West Bengal's transport department indicated that Sikkim's officials have expressed a preference for permitting vehicles transporting tourists to operate from Siliguri or any other place to Gangtok.

"For sightseeing purposes, the Sikkim government prefers the local operators to be allowed as "tourists are their main source of earning," said an official.

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