India is planning 74 new land ports, three along China and six along the border with Pakistan

India proposes to build 74 more land ports along the international border in the coming years. | Photo credit: Special arrangement

India proposes to build 74 more land ports along the international border in the coming years, which include three land ports along the China border and six such ports along the Pakistan border, Land Ports Authority of India (LPAI) chairman Jayant Singh said.

The new land ports are expected to boost trade and seamless movement of people with neighboring countries.

Land ports along the Chinese border are proposed at Namgia in Himachal Pradesh, Gunji in Uttarakhand and Nathu La in Sikkim. India has no other land port on the 3,488 km long Chinese border.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs, there are three points designated for conducting border trade between India and China – Lipulekh Pass in Uttarakhand (since 1992), Shipki La Pass in Himachal Pradesh (since 1995) and Nathu La Pass in Sikkim (since July 2006), but all trade is suspended after the COVID pandemic. Trading posts and land borders are different because the latter integrate immigration, customs and the movement of large trucks.

Land ports planned along the Pakistan border are at Teetwal, Adusa and Chakan Da Bagh in Jammu and Kashmir, Attari and Hussainiwala railway stations in Punjab and Munabao railway station in Rajasthan. Currently, there is only one functional land port at Attari in Punjab and trade from two facilitation centers located at Salamabad, Uri, Baramulla district and Chakkan-da-Bagh, Poonch district along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir has remained suspended since 2019 following the Pulwama terror attack.

According to details presented by LPAI chief to Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday (June 9, 2026), 15 land ports are currently operational, 11 are under construction and 23 ports are proposed in Phase I while 40 more are proposed in Phase II.

Under Phase II, 13 land ports are proposed along the Nepal border, 12 along the Bangladesh border, four along the Bhutan border and two along the Myanmar border, the presentation said.

Civilizational continuity

Mr. Singh said that land borders should be reworked and seen in the context of civilizational continuity as several places of religious and spiritual significance for Indians lie across the border.

“Land borders are also important in terms of people-to-people contact. In the recent past, although relations with Bangladesh have not been very smooth, they have had almost no impact on the volume of trade across land borders between the two countries,” Singh said.

According to the presentation, in 2025-26, the total trade with neighboring countries was ₹2,27,522 crore, of which ₹82,844 crore worth of trade was conducted through land ports. He added that land borders have potential for additional untapped trade worth ₹ 4,44,167 crore.

Together, these projects were expected to create a vast network of border entry points designed to facilitate smoother trade flows and improve connectivity with neighboring countries, Mr. Singh said.

India shares 15,106.7 km of land border with Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar.

Published – 10 Jun 2026 21:46 IST