India plans 74 new land ports, three along China and six along Pakistan borders
India proposes to build 74 additional land ports along the international border in the coming years, which include three land ports along the China border
India proposes to build 74 additional 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, according to Land Ports Authority of India (LPAI) chairperson Jayant Singh. The new land ports are expected to strengthen trade and seamless movement of people with the neighbouring countries. The land ports along the China border are proposed at Namgia in Himachal Pradesh, Gunji in Uttarakhand and Nathu La in Sikkim. India does not have any other land port operatinoal along the 3,488-km China border. According to the Ministry of External Affairs, three points are 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 post-COVID pandemic in 2020, all trade is suspended.
Trade points and land borders are different as the latter integrates immigration, customs and movement of large goods vehicles too. The land ports planned along the Pakistan border are at Teetwal, Adusa and Chakan Da Bagh in Jammu and Kashmir, Attari railway station and Hussainiwala in Punjab and Munabao railway station in Rajasthan. At present, there is just one operational land port at Attari in Punjab and trade from the two Facilitation Centres located at Salamabad, Uri, Baramulla district and Chakkan-da-Bagh, Poonch district along Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir remained suspended since 2019 after the Pulwama terror attack. According to details presented to Union Home Minister Amit Shah by the LPAI chief on Tuesday (June 9, 2026), at present, 15 land ports are operational, 11 are under construction and 23 ports are proposed in phase I while 40 others are proposed in Phase II.
Under Phase II, 13 land ports are proposed along the Nepal border, 12 along the Bangladesh border, four along Bhutan and two along the Myanmar border, the presentation said. Civilisational continuity Singh said land borders should be reimagined and should be seen in the context of civilisational continuity as several places of religious and spiritual significance for the Indians lie across the border. “Land borders are also important from the point of people-to-people contact. In the recent past, even when relations with Bangladesh were not very smooth, there was hardly any impact on the quantum of trade through the land borders between the two countries,” Mr. Singh said. According to the presentation, in 2025-26, the total trade with neighbouring countries stood at ₹2,27,522 crore, out of which trade worth ₹82,844 crore was conducted through land ports.
The BriefWire