The Centre has approved ₹993.64 crore to upgrade the 28-kilometre Rangpo-Ranipool stretch of NH10 in Sikkim into a two-lane highway with paved shoulders, tunnels, viaducts and measures to stabilise vulnerable sliding and sinking zones, Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari said.
Gadkari announced the approval on social media, describing the project as an intervention that would improve connectivity in the Himalayan state. The proposed works will include bridges and cut-and-cover sections in addition to tunnels and viaducts, reflecting the difficult terrain along the route.
The Rangpo-Ranipool section is a key part of Sikkim’s road network. The landlocked state depends on NH10 for movement between its interior and the wider regional transport system. The corridor supports tourism, agriculture, horticulture and the movement of essential goods, while also serving strategic connectivity requirements for defence personnel and supplies. Sikkim shares borders with China, Nepal and Bhutan.
The approval comes after repeated disruptions to road connectivity affected the state’s economy. During the current monsoon, landslides near the 20th Mile area close to Bardan caused major interruptions. Tourism stakeholders have also linked continuing difficulties in the sector to the Glacial Lake Outburst Flood in October 2023 and the damage and instability that followed along critical routes.
Sikkim chief minister Prem Singh Tamang had said in 2024 that the state was losing around ₹100 crore a day in state goods and services tax revenue when NH10 was closed. “As NH10 has closed down, traffic to Sikkim has been affected. It is also taking a toll on the state’s economy and we are losing ₹100 crore every day as SGST,” Tamang said at the time.
The approved project covers the Rangpo-Ranipool section, but Sikkim’s wider access also depends on a 52-kilometre stretch of NH10 in Bengal between Sevoke and Rangpo. That section runs alongside the Teesta river and has faced recurring landslides, subsidence and erosion. The National Highway & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited, which maintains the highway, has restricted vehicle movement between 9pm and 6am in two phases along the Bengal stretch. The first phase began on October 7 and was scheduled to continue until October 15, while the second was scheduled for October 26 to November 5.
The new approval is therefore intended to address both the capacity and resilience of the Sikkim section. Paved shoulders, structures across difficult terrain and treatment of vulnerable zones are part of the announced scope, although the supplied announcement does not specify a construction start date, completion deadline, contractor or detailed package-wise cost.
Sikkim’s lone Lok Sabha MP, Indra Hang Subba, welcomed the approval and thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Gadkari, while acknowledging the efforts of Tamang and state roads and bridges minister Nar Bahadur Dahal. “This is an important step towards a better-connected Sikkim, benefiting our people, tourism, agriculture, trade and strategic connectivity,” Subba said. The next implementation milestones will depend on the release of project details and the execution schedule for the highway works.
