Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai, has told the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday that India has fenced 1,647.696 km out of the total 2,216.7 km border along Bangladesh in West Bengal. The information came while replying to questions raised by BJP MPs Shambhu Sharan Patel and Neeraj Shekhar.
The minister said the rest of 569.004 km is still to be completely fenced. While 112.780 km of it is non-feasible for construction, 456.224 km is feasible. Land to cover 77.935 km of the feasible portion has already been taken over by the executing agency. The balance 378.289 km is in different stages of acquisition and 148.971 km is pending initiation by the state government and 229.318 km is in progress.
The Centre is playing an active role in coordinating with the state government of West Bengal to speed up land acquisition. There are regular meetings and reviews being held to facilitate timely handovers. Payments against land acquired are being disbursed according to norms, and payments have already been done for 181.635 km of the border.
This process is very important for the timely completion of the fencing work," Rai said, while stating that the government was doing everything to eliminate the delay.
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The Home Affairs Minister also pointed out that unauthorized crossing along the West Bengal frontier during the past three years, from January 1, 2023, to July 31, 2025, is 3,964 cases. The length of the total India-Bangladesh border is 4,096.7 km that runs through West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Mizoram.
Completion of fencing and associated infrastructure is part of broader efforts to secure India’s international borders and curb unauthorized crossings. The project includes physical barriers, surveillance systems, and other strategic installations to enhance border management and national security.
Rai’s update underscores the government’s focus on both infrastructure development and security along the sensitive eastern frontier, with continued coordination between central and state authorities aimed at ensuring the fence’s timely completion.
