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The chosen ones will be from the uneducated farmers’ lot who will earn around Nu 400,000 during their seven-month stay there An elderly couple enjoying the dusk on a New Zealand farm. The Bhutanese workers recruited to the country will be employed in the agriculture, food canning and fruit plucking sectors. | (photo courtesy: Boston Globe) About 2,000 farmers and seasonal workers will be soon living the dream of working abroad. This is after... (more...)

Two new reports to be presented to the cabinet next month says that an electric train is feasible to meet the needs of various mega projects coming up in southern Bhutan At a time when the much hyped rail project from Hasimara to Phuentsholing is seeing a slow death, upcoming towns and industrial centers across the southern belt could be connected with an electric train whizzing from Samtse townto Jampani village in Samdrup Jongkhar The strategic... (more...)

(Photo Courtesy: Joostw, Flickr) A stiff political battle between the ruling CPI(M) party and the main opposition party of Trinamool Congress in the bordering state of West Bengal could lead to the derailment of Bhutan’s first railway line project connecting Hashimara to Toribari near Phuentsholing. The Nu 2.7bn Nehru Golden Jubilee railway track will be passing through three tea estates of Satali, Barnabari and Dalsingpara, not far from the Bhutan... (more...)

A 20-year plan outlines huge development plans along the Punatsangchu river in six dzongkhags by taking advantage of the hydro projects. An airport in Lhamoizingkha (Kalikhola), new fast trunk roads from Punakha to the south, Special Economic Zones in the south, and much more. These are few projects planned in the Strategic Assessment (SA)draft final report of the Punatsangchu basin that is the master plan for the next 20 years for development along... (more...)

Bhutan Sales Tax may soon to waived off for Phuentsholing town in a move that could see all southern borders towns become tax free zones eventually The border town of Phuentsholing may soon to exempt from Bhutan Sales Tax (BST) in the first pilot project as part of the government’s initiative to convert border towns into tax free zones. “We are looking at the possibilities to wave off the sales tax in the border towns,” said Trade Director Sonam... (more...)

The finance ministry has plans to reduce PIT tax burden and one option is to increase the entry amount to the tax bracket from Nu 100,000 to Nu 200,000 More than 31,000 Bhutanese could save between Nu 10,000 to Nu 15,000 a year each in personal income taxes (PIT) with the government’s plan to reduce the PIT burden. To do this, the Ministry of Finance is considering options like increasing the deduction slab from 100,000 to 200,000, increasing the... (more...)

The government is considering doing away with the system of having pool vehicles and is looking for alternatives like giving fuel allowances to civil servants or hiring private cars The era of BG number plate vehicles could be a thing of the past as the government is considering doing away with the entire pool vehicle system for civil servants below the secretary level to cut costs and also prevent misuse of pool vehicles. The government is considering... (more...)