China appoints contractor for Larcha dry port, pledges over Rs 1b for the project

KATHMANDU, Jan 25: The Chinese government has appointed Beijing Real Estate Company as the contractor to build the Larcha dry port and other necessary infrastructure. It has also pledged over Rs 1 billion (RMB 860 million) to meet the cost of project.



Seeking consent of the Nepal government, the Chinese government has sent a draft agreement to implement the project to the Ministry of Finance (MoF) recently.[break]



The draft agreement, which contains project cost, responsibility of Nepal government and contracting agency, has been sent to MoF, which is said to be studying the draft," a high level source at the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies (MoCS) told Republica on Tuesday.



The Chinese government a couple of years had agreed to support construction of Larcha dry port, upgrading of around 6 km road linking Larcha with Tatopani customs, and construction of a new bridge over Bhotekoshi at Tatopani customs. The Chinese government had then announced to provide RMB 20 million (around Rs 270 million rupees) for the construction of dry port.



"China has this time announced a financial assistance of around one billion rupees to complete the entire project - upgrading a road link between Tatopani and Larcha, construction of a bridge over Bhotekoshi along with construction of Larcha port," the source said.



The source said a formal announcement of the date on which the actual work on the project will begin will be announced once a formal agreement between the Nepal government and the contractor is signed.



That is, after securing approval from MoF, the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies (MoCS) and the Ministry of Law and Justice. The project has to be completed within 26 months since the start of the work.



WB, India requested for DPR Chandani-Dodhara dry port



Meanwhile, the government has requested the World Bank (WB) and the Indian government for their support to conduct a Detail Project Report (DPR) for the construction of the proposed dry port in Chandani-Dodhara area of the Kanchanpur district.



"The requests have been made after a preliminary study conducted by our expert group found that one dry port is feasible as well as necessary for the Far-Western Region to promote trade in the region, which is also the most backward region of the country," said Sarad Bikram Rana, Executive Director of Nepal Intermodal Transport Development Board (NITDB).



Rana said we have recommended to construct a dry port in Dodhara-Chandani area - the first in Far-Western Region.



"There is enough business potential for the proposed dry port in Dodhara-Chandani area. Apart from helping Nepal´s international trade, it can also boost trade between India´s Uttarakhand and other states including West Bengal," added Rana.



A preliminary study has estimated the cost of the project, which will be spread over 12 bigahas and can accommodate 300 containers, at around Rs 1.5 billion.



Nepal-India RSA on Feb 23-24



Nepalese and Indian officials will meet on Feb 23-24 in Kathmandu to review the existing Railway Service Agreement (RSA) in order to pave the way for movement of rail cargos between any Inland Container Depots (ICDs) or Integrated Check points (ICP) in Nepal and additional sea ports in India.



A joint-secretary level meeting, which was scheduled for Jan 23 and 24, was postponed for a month on the request of Indian side.

Related story

Over 1,500 empty cargo containers stuck at Birgunj dry port